The Dangerous Game
by Nisbet
Summary: Agent Voisin was being trained in the art of deception but she gets captured by Loki as he acquires the Tesseract from SHIELD Base. Mind games ensue between the agent and the god while he forces his will on her in order to use her to satisfy his needs. Loki's plans go smoothly until SHIELD intercedes. Alternate ending to the Marvel movie. R&R!
1. Abducted

**A/N: Carline Voisin—**_**Kahr-leen**__**Vwah-suh.**_** This is a dark fic. M-rated warnings apply.**

Agent Voisin was a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy, specially recruited from France. She had been brought to New York upon the request of her mentor to be trained in the art of deceit. Of course, as a spy, Voisin was skilled at fabricating stories and could easily pass a simple lie detector. But S.H.I.E.L.D. had specified that her training was intended for a particular target, classified on all levels as a highly dangerous enemy of international affairs. Little did the agent know that what Fury had actually meant by 'enemy of international affairs' was 'enemy of planet earth.'

S.H.I.E.L.D. had the God of Mischief on their hands.

For several weeks now, Voisin had been undergoing rigorous mental conditioning in order to pass a lie off as a truth to Loki Laufeyson, master of falsehoods. So far in her lessons, Voisin had honed her ability to deceive as well as to protect herself from mental intrusions—because, according to Laufeyson's brother Thor, the man was also slightly perceptive to internal thought. The physical aspect of lying was simple. It was the mental factor of the skill that had her exhausted at the end of all of her classes.

Now, she sat in one of those lessons, hooked up to a machine that measured what Dr. Serafini had told her were her thought frequencies. According to him, the readings calculated whether her thoughts created a wavelength with many or no antinodes—the more antinodes, the faster Laufeyson would be able to tell she was lying. As the young, Italian Dr. Serafini had put it, the tenser a thought, the tenser the string of her consciousness will be, allowing the 'string' to be plucked and produce a higher frequency or 'pitch.' With a higher pitch, the easier it would be for Laufeyson to hear the lie. Voisin had done simple science in school, and putting the concept in layman's terms helped her wrap her mind around it. What Voisin was attempting to master was the ability to control her thought frequencies and completely hide away the thought that she was lying.

"Good," Serafini said, looking at the computer's readings as Voisin lied to him about what she'd eaten that morning for breakfast. "_Good_. You're getting much better. It's theorized to be difficult for younger people like us, I think, whereas for the older and more experienced…" he trailed off.

"Thank you, doctor," she replied, letting down her mental guard as the test concluded. "I hope my progress is not too slow. This is a difficult idea for me to grasp."

"May I ask something?" he requested. Serafini turned from the computer and looked at the woman. "If you're from France, where's your accent?" She smiled at the young doctor as he spoke. "I mean your name—_Carline_…" he stumbled over the foreign name. "_Carline Voisin_. I looked at your records and it _says_ you're French, but your accent is _perfect_."

"You forget, doctor," she said, putting away her American accent and showing off her French one, "I am a spy. And my American name—" she returned to the polished accent he had commented on "—is _Carolyn._ Easier for you all to say, I think."

Dr. Serafini barked a laugh as he scribbled on his clipboard for the end of the day. "I suppose, yes." He capped his pen and put it on the small pile of papers with finality. "Well, that's all for today. It's…" Serafini looked at his wristwatch and his eyes widened at the time. "Past ten! I need to go. I'm sure you do, too. See you tomorrow, Carolyn."

Quickly, the doctor gathered his notes, discarded his white lab coat and replaced it with a casual black windbreaker, and held open the door of his office for her. Carolyn stepped out into the halls of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, thanking him kindly.

"Well, sure. Like I said before, it's really only a theory. But you're getting a grasp of it. Have a nice night." Serafini shook her hand and then left her.

Voisin turned the other way and began walking down the long corridor. As she made her way back to her room, she was thinking that all she wanted was to go to bed. That wishful thinking was tossed aside when suddenly the alarm system sounded. This was a Code 3 emergency. S.H.I.E.L.D. was under attack.

She immediately backed into the doorway of an office, the only cover available in the long hallway, and pulled the gun on her belt. Her aim was alternating between corners of one end of the hall to another; enemies could come from either direction and she may be outgunned. This was the best stronghold she could possess.

"Agent Voisin, this is Director Fury," came a crackling voice into the earpiece she wore at all times, "do you copy?"

She lightly touched the button on the small walkie-talkie. "_Oui_. I copy." Without use for her American accent, it was discarded and her raw French accent took over her voice.

"Get out. I repeat. Get. Out. Find everyone you can rally and evacuate them from the building. You're in charge of the civilians."

"Yes, sir," she said as she heard footsteps approaching. The Director cut out and she kept silent, waiting for someone to round the corner and step into her line of fire.

Someone did, but Voisin had to resist firing the weapon at him, though she knew he was no ordinary man. He wore golden armor and a green cloak. The stark lights of the hall and the dark emerald of the cape brought out the ashy grayness of his complexion. A glowing blue light fell onto his face from the scepter in his hand. Confidently and with a manic grin, he strode towards her and still, she hesitated.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to halt," she said, her American accent falling back into place. He did not. "Sir," she warned.

A second later, she pulled the trigger. Though her aim had been steady, the bullet seemed to have no effect on him. His advance continued and he seemed unbothered. Voisin fired again, but before she could blink the man shimmered and _disappeared_ into thin air.

Suddenly, Voisin sensed a presence behind her and, before she could do anything, an arm snaked around her throat and she felt the blade of his scepter running down her cheek slowly, carefully.

"No one uses petty mortal weapons against a god," he breathed raggedly into her ear. Voisin had to suppress the shudder of fear that wanted to tumble down her spine. "Now," he said as he spun her around and threw her against the opposite wall, hard enough that she heard a crack in her left shoulder. Voisin couldn't help the cry that escaped her lips. "You will get us out of here safely." He pressed the tip of his glowing blue scepter against the center of her chest and she felt a strange sensation overcome her. Suddenly, his will began to bend hers and her eyes clouded, tinting her sight with blue. She tried to fight off his mind, but when she did he doubled his efforts.

"You have mental prowess," she heard him say in restrained fascination as she began to fall unconscious. "You will make an interesting prisoner, I am sure."

As her legs gave way, he caught her in his arms and threw her over his shoulder, much to the objection of her injured shoulder. Darkness began to seep into the corners of her clouded vision, but before she fell completely to its mercy, she said angrily into his green cape swishing as he walked, "_Salaud_."

* * *

Agent Voisin awoke to a great pain in her left shoulder, the throbbing sending waves of discomfort from the top of her arm down to her elbow. She was lying on the floor of a moving van, her captor sitting across from where she lay, staring at her intently.

"She's awake," he said, not removing his eyes from her face. His voice was full of power. "Inject her with the serum."

Suddenly, a needle was stuck into her neck and in the next minute, she was asleep.

* * *

Again, it was her wounded shoulder that roused her, but this time she was not on the floor of a vehicle. Voisin was in a simple twin-sized bed that creaked when she sat up to look at her surroundings. A light from another room was flooding hers, and she saw the source of it was a bathroom. The fluorescent bulbs illuminated the wooden floor of her room—the only thing for them to illuminate as the place was completely empty except for the bed she sat on.

Voisin threw her legs over the side of the mattress, groggy and slow from the drugs that had been administered during the car ride. She stood, ignoring the dizziness that resulted, and walked into the bathroom to find it was a clean little thing containing a toilet, bathtub, and sink.

Soon the dizziness took over and Voisin could no longer stand. She leaned against the doorframe, forgetting about her bad shoulder and then fell to the ground in surprise when her nerves were set on fire. The pain that gripped her was unforgiving and sent those flames all through her left side. Her mind acquiesced to the pounding headache and exhaustion and she went limp with unconsciousness.

* * *

"Your collarbone is broken," a smooth, deep voice mused.

She felt her brows contract at the intrusion of her sleep, but her eyes opened and saw him. He was sitting next to her bed in a chair, watching her closely.

Immediately, Voisin scrambled away and fell off the edge of the mattress, landing on the floor in a heap. Her left side was a constant hum of pain and her shoulder felt the impact with the ground more than anything. Panting, she steadied herself and raised her head over the side of the bed. He was still staring at her, amusement stretching across his face in the form of a smirk.

"Would you like me to heal you?" he asked as though she had not just fallen off the bed. "You were falling over yourself last night in delirium; you made your injury worse."

"How many civilians did you kidnap?" she asked, her voice coming out hoarse because of her dry throat. Voisin raised herself up and stood, using the bedpost to support herself.

He looked at her strangely, his faux concern fading from his face and being replaced with slight confusion. "Are _they_ your first priority? The '_civilians'_?" He spat the word.

"Fury left me in charge of them," she said, slowly covering her words with the American accent. "I am responsible."

He laughed, but answered her question. "None. I have taken only you, _Carline Voisin_." He said her name perfectly. Voisin froze, but then realized that he could have found this information out easily enough. Probably from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records.

Trying to recompose herself, she asked, "Where am I?"

"Enough questions."

"Do you have the Tesseract?"

He growled, standing from his chair and towering over her. "Do you know who I am?"

"I know exactly who you are, Laufeyson. And judging from your reluctance to answer my question, I'm willing to guess that you failed at retrieving what you probably came to S.H.I.E.L.D. to claim," she said cockily, raising her mental defenses as she met his eyes.

The smile that tugged at his lips and bared his teeth caused her to falter. "Then you have assumed wrong, insolent Midgardian," he sneered. Voisin's stomach dropped, but the only thing that showed her disappointment was the way her jaw clenched. "I have the precious Tesseract and soon Midgard will be rebuilt under my name—structured upon glory and rising above all. You are just here for my entertainment."

"I have nothing you would be interested in."

"Oh, on the contrary, my darling," he laughed, eyes roving over her body. "I think you do."

Voisin's eyes widened and she took a step back from his looming figure, but he caught her around the waist and brought her even closer to him. Pressed against his cold metal armor, she pushed against him slightly, testing his strength. This was a situation she had been prepped for.

In one movement, she had spun around and now had his arm in her right hand. She crouched and pulled with all of her strength, while using his weight against him, and flung him over her head onto the ground behind her. Satisfied when she heard him wheezing after the air had been knocked out of his lungs, she ran to the door and tried to open it.

Locked.

With all of her might, Agent Voisin drove her heel into the door around where she believed the lock to be. The door gave way easily. Voisin ran out into the hall and went as fast as she could towards the end of the corridor. Laufeyson's steps could be heard as he angrily made his way after her, but she didn't look behind her.

An elevator was at the end—if she could make it in there and close the door behind her, she would be safe! Almost as if her internal voice had called up the transportation, the door opened, inviting her into its protective embrace. Voisin wasted no time and sprinted inside, pressing the 'door close' button rapidly. But suddenly, he was there, his bladed staff stopping the doors from closing completely. A shrieking of metal could be heard as the door was pushed back and he stepped inside, an evil smile on his lips.

"You play a dangerous game, agent," he hissed spitefully. Laufeyson stepped forward several times and she was pressed against the wall of the elevator. The doors shut behind him, but the contraption didn't move. They weren't going anywhere soon.

"And the one you play is safer?" she retorted, glaring up at him. "Thor said—"

Her remark was cut off when his hand hit the side of her face, sending her head crashing into the metal wall.

"I do not want to hear what my _brother said_!" he yelled. She shrank into the back of the elevator. "I never want to hear that name passing from your lips _again_, is that understood?!" Laufeyson's face was close to hers and she could feel spittle flying from his mouth and landing on her face. "If you are to live," he continued, calming himself slightly, "then you will not so much as _mutter_ his name in my presence."

Voisin's jaw clenched in defiance and she met his eyes again. "I—"

"Silence," he snapped, covering her mouth with his hand.

That contact sent a foreign feeling through her mind, and she swallowed hard. Her brows furrowed as she looked at him helplessly. _What is he doing to me?_

"Much better," he said, removing his hand. Voisin opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. Nothing at all escaped her mouth but a faint whisper of air. His smirk returned. "What a lovely sight this is."

In one lithe motion, her captor had her hands pinned above her head in one of his and she feared for the damage that was being done to her already wounded shoulder; now it was screaming in pain and she could make no sound to advocate this except a rush of air that left her mouth.

With his other hand, Laufeyson pushed her hair off her neck and turned her head to one side, leaning into the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply and made a sound of approval. "You smell divine." Loki lowered his mouth onto her throat and gave it a soft kiss. His mouth opened against her and his tongue tasted her flesh, following with a hard bite. Voisin gasped in surprise and tried to move away, but her objections did no good.

His hand moved to the zipper on her cat suit now, the black fabric peeling away from her chest as he brought it down to expose her to him. Bringing the zipper as low as it could, he turned his attentions to her lace panties, trailing a finger around the waistband of the piece of cloth. Laufeyson's hand was cold and Voisin let out a breathy whine as protest as he eased his way into her underwear.

Tears were falling from her eyes in pain from her shoulder and the thought of what was about to occur. Loki Laufeyson was about to violate her in the most debasing way possible. He was going to taint her—to mark her as his own.

"Is that acceptance I'm sensing from you?" he breathed into her hair as began to stroke her delicate sex. Voisin remembered what S.H.I.E.L.D. had told her about Loki being able to read general emotions.

She shook her head from side to side, desperately wanting to explain that it was understanding, _not_ consent. He didn't seem to understand though, because then he forcefully pushed her to the ground and managed to get her struggling legs out of the cat suit and slip off her lace undergarment. With one knee, he pried open her legs as he unbuckled his pants.

_Please_, she mouthed silently. _Please stop, stop… __S'il vous plaît__._

"This is your punishment for trying to run away, _Carline_," he snarled as he rubbed the head of himself against her opening. "You will _not_ find pleasure in this." He thrust into her, _hard_, and she let out a muffled sob. Loki pulled out and then went back in again, and Voisin could feel a kind of lubrication that was _not_ his arousal wetting her insides. Blood trickled down her thigh and, for a moment, the pain below and in her shoulder were almost equal.

Voisin kicked her legs and he granted her with the roughest thrust he had managed yet, the tip of him pressing uncomfortably against her cervix wall. She stopped struggling then, falling limp beneath his form.

"Good girl," he muttered against her as he began to move faster. "You learn quickly."

His ministrations came quicker and Laufeyson's breath was coming out ragged. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Voisin hoped he would find his end and be done with her. Kill her, maybe.

Laufeyson pressed his mouth onto hers and she felt his tongue try and force her lips open. She grimaced as she sobbed silently and turned her face away.

With a final thrust, he spilled himself and collapsed on top of her, breathing into the crook of her neck again. Voisin gave a weak attempt to push him off, but he didn't move.

_Please_, she said voicelessly again. _My arm—_

Laufeyson heard her trying to make words and he soon realized what she was asking. He obliged, interestingly enough, and waved his hand over her shoulder and traced her collarbone with a cool finger. Voisin felt herself being repaired and as the magic flowed through her body, Loki pulled out of her and buckled up his pants again.

He opened the door of the elevator and walked out casually. Before the doors could close behind him, he turned around and said to her as his eyes took in her broken form, "Make yourself presentable for dinner."


	2. Dinner

The elevator doors closed, leaving her alone. Her voice still didn't work and the zipper on her cat suit had broken because of the man's roughness with it. Those trivial things flew from Voisin's mind the instant they crossed her forefront thought because most of all, she was scared.

Maybe she wasn't scared so much as in shock. He had raped her, violating her in the most personal way possible, and she had no idea what else was in store for her. It could be any number of things, and that fear took hold of her in her numb state.

Agent Voisin felt her arm heal completely and she moved it experimentally. No pain, nothing but slight stiffness. She picked up her underwear and slipped them back on. Then Voisin put her legs back into the cat suit and pulled the zipper up until it stopped at her waist. The two tracks on either side would not line up in the zipper, and she knew if she tried the entire thing would come undone. Clutching at the open fabric and trying to hold it together so as to show off as little skin as possible, Voisin opened the elevator doors and limped out.

She wanted to return to her room and clean herself. Maybe she would find a way to escape before 'dinner' with Laufeyson; she would much rather throw herself into peril than having to see that man again.

Voisin reached her room after a long stretch of hallway, the door was still damaged and hanging from its hinges. She slipped past the broken piece of wood but froze when she saw _him_ standing in the middle of her room, staring at her bed curiously. All conscious thought fled from her mind as he turned and looked her right in the eye, but she tightened her grip on the fabric of her ruined cat suit.

He strode towards her and Agent Voisin felt helpless. She cowered against the wall and allowed him to press against her once more, trapping her between him and the wall with outstretched arms on either side of her body. She couldn't look at his face and instead tried to focus on her distorted reflection in the dirty gold chest plate. A woman looked back that she didn't recognize as herself: weak, blinking away tears, and at someone's mercy.

Those tears welled up and spilled down her face. Her shuddering breath began hitching in her throat. Look at her—reduced to nothing at this man's presence, she became a sobbing idiot. All of her years of professional training had gone down the drain when he had used a torture she had only been briefed on. She hated herself for this, and it made her cry all the harder.

"Hush now," he said, bringing a hand to her chin and lifting her face up to look at him. "Perhaps one day you will come to enjoy my touch—to long for me inside of you. Undoubtedly, I can give you pleasure. That before was just your punishment for trying to run."

Hatred boiled inside her and she reacted rashly, spitting into Laufeyson's face.

He responded with anger, she saw it spark in his eyes, and then he slapped her, the force of it enough to make her see stars. She felt her cheek with her hand, hot and beginning to welt.

"I am your king," he snarled with his face close to hers. "Should you decide to speak to me again in such a manner, I will have no qualms in having your tongue removed." The promise in his voice was there.

_Monstre_, she mouthed.

He leaned even closer to her and his hand went between them to cup her sore sex and she fell completely silent, cringing away from him.

"Soon enough you will learn your place, mortal," he breathed as a final warning before rubbing her roughly once more. Then he removed himself from her and stepped back to look her over again. He seemed content with the fear he had instilled within her and then moved away stepping over the fallen-in door in her room. Laufeyson looked back and waved his hand; iron bars replaced the door, effectively locking her in. "I will have clothes sent to you for this evening."

She heard his retreating footsteps and let out a long, unsteady breath.

_Elle sera très bien, Carline_, she thought to herself. _It will be fine…_

When she couldn't hear his footfalls echoing down the long hallway, she steadied herself and wrapped her fingers around the cool metal bars that had replaced the door to her room. This left her almost entirely exposed to the world outside of her confinement—hopefully there wasn't anyone who came down this corridor regularly.

Voisin retreated into the bathroom, flicking on the light and closing the door and locking it behind her. She stared at herself in the mirror, bracing herself against the sink.

Her eyes were dark and there were faint rings of exhaustion under them. A bruise was forming from where he had slapped her on her left cheek. Voisin's brown hair that hung just below her shoulders was singed in places at the ends. What happened while she had been unconscious? What had Loki Laufeyson done to get them out of S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ? Her cat suit was falling open without her hand holding it shut, but she didn't care. She was alone.

Voisin turned around and saw the bathtub with an additional showerhead protruding from the wall above. She ran the shower and, looking around once more to make absolutely sure she was alone in the small bathroom, she stripped out of her wrecked garment and stood under the water. It was lukewarm and would get no hotter than that.

Agent Voisin took the bar of soap and scrubbed herself completely clean three times. By the time she had finished the third rinse the water was cold, though she hardly seemed to notice. Her skin was red, raw from the thoroughness of her scrubbing. She still imagined dried blood washing off from between her legs as it had the first time the water ran down her body.

Desperate to rid herself of any trace of Laufeyson, she began scraping away at where she thought dried blood was with her fingernails. She clawed between her thighs and then began clawing harder when she saw actual blood washing down the drain.

Suddenly, rational thought kicked in and Voisin stopped. She turned off the water and sat down in the tub, covering her face with her hands and pulling her knees up to her chest. Hot tears were leaking from her eyes, not because of what Laufeyson had done to her, because of her failure. If only she had actually remembered her training properly and had not gotten herself captured.

A knocking came on her bathroom door then and Voisin wrapped her arms around her legs. Was it Laufeyson returning for her? A voice carried through the wood:

"Agent."

_That voice…_

"Agent Carolyn?" She _knew_ that voice.

Voisin couldn't reply; her vocal cords were still not working. Quickly, she stood and wrapped a white towel around her body and then went and cracked open the bathroom door.

_Barton!_ she tried to cry, but all that came out was a raspy imitation of speaking.

The joy in her was fast destroyed when she saw that his eyes were tinted blue. In his hands was a folded pile of clothes and he looked blankly at her. "Loki requests that you wear these to dinner this evening." He held out the clothes, but as he did, his eyes glanced down at her bared legs and saw steady drops of blood sliding down her left leg. Voisin thought perhaps she saw his eyes widen a fraction. She must have imagined it though, because a second later it was gone.

_Thank you…_, she tried. Voisin took the stack and watched as he walked out, the iron bars giving way to his form as he left. How had Loki gotten a hold of Agent _Barton_?

Voisin closed the bathroom door and unfolded the clothes. Something fell out of the pile and she picked it up off the floor—a small piece of paper with scribbled words.

_I have moments of clarity. He continues administering to me whatever power is in his staff. The clarity usually comes around 5:00pm. I'll find you tomorrow. Destroy this._

Voisin quickly crumpled the piece of paper and dropped it down the drain, washing it down the pipes with water. A hum worked through her body as she felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips; Agent Barton was going to help find a way to escape.

But what time was it now? Certainly not five… but she had noticed a spark of life in his eyes that wouldn't have been there should Barton be under Laufeyson's full control. At what time had she woke?

Voisin shook her head. What did it matter? He would come for her tomorrow.

She looked at the clothes she had been given. On the top was a raspberry red, reasonably casual shirt with an incredibly low front that would definitely show off her cleavage to Laufeyson over their dinner. The pants were black, made out of a material that appeared to be leather but were much softer. And finally, the shoes: knee-high black boots with a slight heel. Voisin wrinkled her nose at them. She _hated_ heels. She would just wear the tennis shoes she had worn here.

Voisin got dressed and looked at herself in the mirror. She frowned. _Why_ was this top so revealing? Maybe it was just her, because she _never_ wore shirts so low, but Voisin was no doubt uncomfortable and self-conscious about the shirt.

Another knock sounded on the bathroom door as she was slipping on her own shoes and she jumped, nearly falling over from balancing on one foot.

"Agent _Voisin_?" That was Laufeyson. He said her name with an unmistakable relish.

She opened the door to see his towering figure looming above her in the doorway of the bathroom. He was still in his armor, making his form look even larger than it really was.

"You have not prepared yourself," he said with a frown that made her nervous about its implications. His eyes ran over her wet, uncombed hair, and then fell to her chest for a moment. Laufeyson walked into the room and picked up a brush, and with every step he took, Voisin retreated a step back, eyeing him warily. "I do not mean to harm you. So long as you do as I bid," he added carefully.

Voisin backed into the wall with nowhere else to go. Laufeyson took the brush and settled it on the top of her head, pulling it down and smoothing out her hair. She shuddered at the contact.

"I trust you have met Agent Barton?" he asked as he brushed through her hair slowly and in an intimate manner. Looking at the ground, she nodded slightly, not wanting to give anything away. Recalling her mental training, she tried to keep the frequencies of her thoughts low.

"Good," he replied, not sounding as though he noticed anything suspicious. "And now do you _feel_ about him?"

Voisin jerked away and looked up at him, the look clearly written on her face: _What do you _mean_?_

He met her eyes as he said casually, "I wish to know how you would react in the event of his death." He laughed at her horrified expression. "I am only curious. I have no plans for him as of yet—he has proven to be a very important asset in this game we are playing with S.H.I.E.L.D."

Voisin let out a breath of relief.

Laufeyson pondered her for a moment and then handed her the brush. She pulled it through her hair quickly and then put the thing back on the side of the sink. He was watching her all the while and then broke the silence.

"I suppose since we are to dine together, I am obliged to return your voice to you." He sounded reluctant, but beckoned her towards him. She went cautiously and forced herself to remain still as he ran his thumb across her lips. When he dropped his hand from her face, she stepped back and tried her voice.

"What…" she said experimentally. Her voice was raspy from lack of use, but she cleared it and then asked, "What are you doing to Agent Barton?"

He seemed pleased by her question. "Gaining information." Without further elaboration, he held out his arm and said, "Shall we?"

Voisin made no move to accept his 'chivalrous' gesture, so he took her hand in his and wrapped it around his arm roughly and walked them out of the small bathroom. He led them through the barred doorway and she flinched as they did. She'd seen Barton walk through them without a problem, but she was still nervous about the physics of it. Maybe there wasn't any physics involved—maybe it was magic.

When she opened her eyes again (not having realized she'd closed them in the first place), they were walking down the hallway and she was struggling to keep up with Laufeyson's long steps.

"I hope you don't mind, darling…"

She looked up at him, confused. "What—?"

Something cold clasped around her wrist on his arm and she saw it was a handcuff. He suddenly flipped her around, pressing her chest to the wall, and cuffed her other wrist behind her back. Voisin tried to lash out and kick back at him, but he was not having it. Laufeyson pressed her even more firmly against the wall—almost to the point where it hurt—and whispered in her ear:

"Ah ah, do not resist me. It will not be worth it."

"_Va te faire foutre_," she hissed. "Fuck you."

He chuckled as he released her and linked his arm within her left one. "That's for later." She winced against him. He began leading her again to wherever it was they were going. The silence between them was filled with their footfalls. As they turned a corner, he said with a chuckle, "I do believe the French say… _baiser_, am I correct?"

Voisin shivered at his baseness.

He smirked.

The walls of the hall were suddenly gone and replaced with thick glass. They were walking across an indoor bridge that overlooked thousands of workers—on one side were people on computers and the other contained scientists. Everything was pale blue: lab coats, computer screens, the paint on the walls, the color of the workers' eyes…

And then the hall was normal again. She looked back over her shoulder as Laufeyson practically dragged her alongside him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Headquarters," he replied simply, not looking at her.

"Who were all of those people?"

"My servants."

"Did you mind control them as well?" she asked suddenly, suspicion lacing her voice.

"A good few of them, yes," he replied.

"But—"

"You ask a great deal of questions, I hope you realize." He didn't sound mad—just… observational.

"So you _kidnapped_ them," she cried, wheeling on him and taking him by surprise. They stopped and he looked down at her.

"I suppose, if you like, _yes_, I 'kidnapped' them." Annoyance laced his tone.

"You _can't_—"

"Oh, but you see, I _did_."

She huffed at him indignantly.

"Your morals are very strange," he mused, beginning their walk again. "You seem to hate seeing civilians being captured—but why? What _use_ are they to you? You have no connection to them at all except for the fact that you are of the same species."

Voisin stayed quiet.

Laufeyson shook her. "Answer me."

"It's wrong," she muttered, looking down.

"Yes, but _why_?"

"It just is. _S'il vous plaît_—I do not want to talk about this anymore."

There was a short silence while he stared at her strangely. He surprised her when he said, "Very well."

* * *

They reached their destination in a few more minutes. It was a small room lavishly decorated with a table in the center set for two. Laufeyson sat her down in one of the chairs, removing her handcuffs as he did, and placed himself in the other. Immediately, a waiter dressed to the nines shuffled into the room and bowed to them.

As he stood, Voisin noticed he had glowing blue eyes. She felt herself frown. "Your meal tonight, my lord," he said, "is cooked salmon with a baked potato, steamed carrots, and rolls. Does this agree with my king?"

Loki nodded and shooed him off with a wave of his hand. He leaned back in his chair and turned his attention to her. She stared back, trying to keep her face blank and unreadable. They stared at each other like this for at least a minute before he began conversation.

"Why do you work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"I was recruited."

"For any particular mission?"

"To fight you."

He raised a brow, interested. Then he laughed and idly brought his hand to the table to shift around the silverware. "Well, it seems you did not pay close enough attention during your lessons." He looked back up at her again, the malicious smile lingering on his face.

"It would seem not," she replied, suddenly seeing the humor of the situation as she tried to suppress a smirk.

He noticed. "What do you find amusing?"

"Everything." Her grin broke free and suddenly she was giggling uncontrollably. "I was being trained to join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ranks—against _you_. Yet, here I am, about to have dinner with you as your prisoner. I don't understand!" she cried. Her tone was filling with hysteria; she was yperventilating now. "I was one of the best spies in France and now I'm _here_. I was actually _captured._" She felt tears leaking down her face and she wiped at them angrily with her cuffed hands. _ "_I— You— I can't—"

Voisin was beginning to feel lightheaded and suddenly Laufeyson's cool hand was on her forehead. She concentrated on breathing, closing her eyes and trying to push him away while attempting to dry her eyes.

"Breathe," he said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"_Laissez-moi tranquille!_" she screamed, shaking him off and rising abruptly from the table. Even he was taken aback. "You—you _rape _me and then think you have the _right_ to comfort me when really _you_ are the cause of my suffering?! You are nothing less than a _dog_. I hate you." Her French accent was back, coating her words entirely.

Laufeyson sat back in his chair, regarding her coolly now with his hands in his lap and one leg crossed over the other. "What else do you hate?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, I will not bow to your whim and play your games. I refuse."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I do not care either way. I was merely under the impression that during a dinner, two people speak of their wants and desires, likes and dislikes, loves and hates…"

Anger boiled over within her stomach. "I hate _you_, Laufeyson." His eyes narrowed slightly when she called him that. "I hate you because you are incapable of feeling emotion. You have no sense of right or wrong, and I hate that your weakness is your _état d'esprit pieux_—"

"Enough," he said quietly. She saw his hands had balled into fists in his lap, but she continued.

"I hate that you've kidnapped those poor people and forced them to work for you—"

"That will be all, _Voisin_."

"And that you cannot even look me in the eye as I announce your faults—"

"_ENOUGH!_"

Now, they stared at one another, both at the peak of a red-hot emotion. Their eyes shined and their hands trembled as they panted from the exertion of yelling. She swallowed as she watched his rage dissipate.

"Your dinner will be served in your room. I have no use of you tonight." He snapped his fingers and a different serving man ran out into their room. "Away with her at once." The little suited man bowed quickly and took Voisin by the arm, escorting her out without another word. Before she left, she threw a look behind her and saw him staring at the wall, his fists still clenched in anger.


	3. Escape

Voisin sat on her small bed eating the dinner that had been brought to her by yet another servant of Laufeyson's. She had forgotten it had been nearly a day since her last meal, and by the time she smelled the food, she was ravenous. She reluctantly admitted to herself that the salmon was delicious. She honestly hadn't had as fine a meal since she'd left her native France.

Finishing the dinner, she wiped her hands on the cloth napkin that had been provided and put the empty plate on the floor. Feeling a wave of exhaustion settle over her, she kicked off her shoes and crawled under the blankets. The light from the hall flooded her room, sending half of the place into shadow, but she ignored it and fell asleep in the next minute.

* * *

Voisin woke slowly, stretching out tired limbs and rolling over, nestling her face into her pillow before opening her eyes. When she did, she shot up out of bed and took a defensive stance, the piece of furniture separating her and the man who had been watching her sleep.

Laufeyson looked at her, his lips a thin line. "I realize that my behavior last night was… inappropriate."

Voisin's eyes narrowed, recalling the way he had screamed at her and then sent her away.

"I acted rashly and I did so because you addressed a sore subject. I came to apologize for letting my sentiments get in the way of what could have been a friendly meal."

She scoffed. _Friendly?_

He drummed his fingers on his leather pants as he surveyed her closely. After a moment of silence, he let out a short, impatient breath. "I see you have no desire to hear an apology." Laufeyson stood, pushing the chair back with a scraping sound as he did. He turned around and walked towards the metal bars to her prison. He went out of her room, pushing past the bars whose material matter gave way to whatever magic he was performing.

Once he was out of sight, she went to the definitely real bars and wrapped her hands around them. She looked out of her confinement and watched him walk away, green cape billowing behind him.

"Laufeyson," she finally. "Wait." He paused, not turning round to look at her. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, mulling over his apology that sounded nearly genuine.

"Because if we are to get along, you must learn to tolerate me," he replied. With that, he left her standing there at her barred doorway, disappearing entirely from view when he turned a corner.

Standing in silence after he left, an irrelevant thought occurred to her: _What time is it?_

Agent Barton was coming for her today around five; she needed to get ready.

* * *

She spent the day kicking and punching at her wall. Voisin found that no one really came down her hallway and the noise she made went unheard. She wasn't aiming to bring it down, rather to focus her nervous energy and get into practice for whatever Barton had in store for her. Whatever it was, though, Agent Voisin would be prepared.

"What _is_ that racket?" she suddenly heard from outside. She froze when she heard a pair of footsteps echoing down the hall.

Voisin ran into her bathroom and silently closed the door.

It wasn't Laufeyson. That voice had been gruff and unrestrained, but it quieted when he grew nearer.

"Do you think this is the room he was talking about?" he whispered.

"Yeah—there are the iron bars," his companion replied.

There was a rustling of fabric and then there was a sound similar to a whirling coin coming out of its spin on a wooden surface.

"Okay, we're good," the second man said.

The footsteps resumed and then died away. Voisin wiped sweat off her face and then let out a held-in breath. She cracked open the bathroom door. The men were gone and just a few feet from the doorway was a strange, circular pendant with an unfamiliar marking on the face of it.

She picked it up and turned it over in her hands, tracing the symbol with her finger. On the back was a piece of paper attached to the metal charm. Voisin took it off quickly and unfolded it, reading Barton's writing:

_This will help. _

She couldn't help her smile. If Barton was sending her this, then he must be in his right mind now. He would be coming in a few minutes!

Just as she realized this, she heard hard, uneven footfalls ricocheting around the empty corridor outside and she clutched the pendant in her hand, hiding it from view. Voisin went to put her hands around the bars and look at who was approaching when she fell right through them and onto the ground. The pendant must have negated any tangibility the iron bars had because now when she moved past them it was as if they weren't even there.

"Carolyn?" she heard the archer ask. Agent Barton ran into view, his breathing was labored and he was already sweating. Barton looked exhausted: his face was tinged with gray and his eyes had deep purple bags underneath them.

"Agent Barton," she said with a grin. "I'm so glad—"

"No time," he said, cutting their greeting short. "Loki will be looking for me in less than fifteen minutes. I've memorized the hallways and can definitely get us out of here—but we'll need to be prepared to fight off some of his minions."

She nodded seriously. "Understood, sir."

"This way." He started running again and Voisin raced after him.

They went down the long hallway and turned left, another left.

"How far are we from the nearest exit?" she shouted at him as they ran.

"Our ideal escape route is five floors up," he called back. Voisin couldn't help but notice how out of breath he was, but they couldn't stop. Everything depended on this.

They reached the end of another hallway and Barton pulled open a door to a staircase. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents booked it up the stairs until they heard chuckling from above, maybe two flights up. Voisin felt the blood drain from her face.

She came to an abrupt halt and grabbed Barton's arm.

"Laufeyson," she muttered to him. Barton understood and they began making their way back down until the God of Mischief shimmered into existence right in front of them.

But wait—Voisin could still hear the footsteps of Laufeyson approaching them from above. Voisin spun around while Barton kept a trained eye on the man behind them.

"So, you thought you could get away with it." His voice rang through the staircase, as did his footsteps. Suddenly, he came into view along with a guard from S.H.I.E.L.D. holding a gun. The guard was watching the two spies intently with glowing blue eyes. From Laufeyson's hands swung the pendant that Barton had gotten her. She must have dropped sometime during their escape.

Barton was panting so heavily and was sweating so much, Voisin thought he may faint right then. She wrapped her arm around his waist and he put his own arm over her shoulder to steady himself.

"I have been monitoring you, Agent Barton. Did you think I was so idiotic to let you go uncontrolled for even short periods of time before taking you back under the power of the Tesseract?" He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down at them. Agent Voisin looked behind her and his magical duplicate was still there. Voisin shivered and focused her attention on the one that was talking.

"I do not understand why you fight me. Mortals desire nothing but to be told what to do. Am I not correct in believing it is a simpler way of living for you humans? Is it not easier?" It was a rhetorical question. But Voisin thought it needed an answer.

"Of course not," she said angrily. "You think we're just some mindless species that demands to be conquered and given orders?"

Laufeyson looked confused, as if the answer was quite obvious. "Well, yes." He realized he wasn't making himself clear enough. "Has it not worked before in the past? You all have a leader—be it king, president, dictator—and you look to them for guidance in your world of nonsense. _I_ will be that leader."

Barton suddenly clutched at his chest and his knees let out entirely, becoming a deadweight in Voisin's grip. She lowered him to the floor and sat him down on the stairs where he turned to watch the Loki duplicate behind them. She saw a grin creep across the real Laufeyson's face as he watched Agent Barton fall.

"What are you doing to him?" she demanded with narrowed eyes.

His malevolent smile widened and his eyes flicked back to her. "Influencing cardiac arrest."

Then, the Loki behind her grabbed her arms and held them behind her back in his firm grasp, bringing his scepter to the base of her throat. She struggled, but her efforts only resulted in the blade of the weapon slicing a thin line across her neck.

"Look at her, Agent Barton. What do you see?" he asked him calmly.

Barton appeared to be even worse than before, slumped against the wall and breathing heavily. Pain gripped his heart again and he reached to massage his chest, his eyes shut tight.

"_What do you see?_" he asked again more firmly, jabbing the end of his staff on the ground, producing an echoing metallic noise.

Barton forced himself to look at Voisin through his pain and she looked back down at him. She saw the failure in his eyes and hatred at what he had done.

"This isn't your fault, Barton," she tried to say in a comforting tone.

He reeled from the torture going on within him and gasped, "I see a fellow agent."

"And what of her? What do you believe will happen to her now that you've tried to escape?"

"Torture," he struggled to say.

"Precisely," Laufeyson said after being indulged by Agent Barton. "And I see no reason why the torture should not happen here, right now." He motioned to the gunman beside him. "Shoot her in the leg."

Voisin tried to wriggle out of the duplicate's hold, but her attempts were futile. She was struggling against a god. As the man took his aim, she tried using his weight against him and throwing him to the floor, but her disadvantage was the uneven ground and she could not possibly lift him to send him crashing to the floor.

The gun went off, but as she watched the guard pull the trigger, she jumped up, keeping her back stiff and throwing out her legs at a ninety degree angle. Doing this, she dodged the bullet as well as caught the duplicate off guard. His grip on her loosened and Voisin then swept her legs around to come into contact with his, successfully tripping him up. But then the duplicate was gone, shimmering out of existence. Her eyes snapped up to Laufeyson's who was watching her every move.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him gesture towards her with his hand and, before she could react, the mind-controlled guard pointed his gun at her right leg without aim and shot her in the thigh. Voisin heard herself cry out in pain and she clutched at the railing of the staircase for support. Warm liquid ran down her left leg and her hand went to it automatically to staunch the bleeding. She was breathing hard and then saw Barton, forcing himself to stay conscious. It looked as though Laufeyson had relinquished his control over the agent's vital organ, but now he was fighting to stay awake.

"Again," she heard Laufeyson say, "but in the shoulder."

In the next moment, Voisin was falling and she felt the same sharp pain in her left arm that was in her leg. No bones had been hit, thankfully. She collapsed on the stairs and fell down several until she reached the bottom of the flight. Agent Voisin rolled over onto her good side and tried to push herself up only to find her strength leaving quickly as the aftershock of the bullets intruded her body. Distantly, she heard Laufeyson casually coming down the stairs and then his shoes were in her line of vision. He placed his foot on her bleeding shoulder and pushed her onto her back. She couldn't suppress the yell that bubbled up in her throat as he did it.

"You will learn control, my pet," he said, kneeling down next to her and bringing his face close to hers. "And it is a lesson I will make sure you will not be quick to forget."

His eyes were the last things she saw before she blacked out.

* * *

Voisin stirred, feeling soreness throughout her body as she woke up. She was sitting on the floor, propped against a cold wall, her head resting on her shoulder. Voisin straightened herself and opened her eyes to see a horrible sight before her:

Agent Barton was in a prison cell while Voisin and Laufeyson were in the passageway of a jail. She was resting against a space of wall separating the holding confinements and Laufeyson, who was pacing in front of her restlessly. Barton was pressed up against the bars from where he was sitting weakly on the floor in the corner of his cell.

"We're going to try this a bit differently now, Agent _Voisin_," he said, not meeting her gaze. "Your friend Agent Barton is locked up there—he cannot escape. You and I, we are beyond his reach and I wonder… what would happen if I did _this_?" His shoe came into brutal contact with her wounded thigh and her eyes watered in pain as she whimpered and flinched away from him.

"Interesting," he said, taking a step closer to her. He knelt beside her and put his hand on the bullet hole in her shoulder gingerly. All she could do was eye him warily, numb and unable to move. All at once, Laufeyson's long-fingered hand was slammed into her shoulder, shoving her against the wall. She cried out in pain and grit her teeth.

He turned to Agent Barton who was watching the entire scene with sorrow in his eyes. "You see, agent? This is what happens when I am disobeyed—something precious to you will be taken, and I know how much you hate seeing innocents die." Laufeyson laughed softly at his play on words.

Voisin and Barton shared a look through the iron bars of his cell. She nodded her head a fraction. It was a sign.

_Leave me_.

Barton clenched his jaw in disagreement. For a second he did not respond other than to show that he did not think it was a good idea, but then he nodded once as well.

It is a rule that if a spy is caught and meant to be used as leverage or for torture, a co-op can end everything in order to protect highly classified secrets—and, in a roundabout way, save the spy's life. No one wants to die, of course. But _nobody_ wants to die under torture. There are very few ways of ending one's life that are more dreadful than that.

Agent Barton was one of the many in the business of espionage to understand this.

"Nothing?" Laufeyson asked, cutting through their wordless conversation. "I thought not. Perhaps if I do show less restraint..."

He stood and kicked her leg again, but this time, his boot lingered on her open wound and the pressure increased exponentially. Voisin's head rolled back and hit the wall, her eyes closing against everything threatening to break her blank thoughts. Her eyebrows were screwed up in her focus and her teeth were grit to fight the pain. Laufeyson was smiling at her barely-concealed agony; he knew she could not hold onto her control much longer.

"You have been brave to fight against me, agents. But not all bravery is wise—and, consequently, not all submission is foolish. There is no pain in giving yourself to me. There is no disgrace in relinquishing control. Pride will not be hurt if you allow yourself to yield."

With that, Laufeyson raised his boot from the wound on Voisin's thigh and she sucked in a breath, not even realizing that she had been depriving herself of air. Before relief could wash over her, unimaginable pain tore through her entire body as the God of Lies threw all of his strength into stomping on her leg and maintaining the force on it. Voisin cried out in agony, drowning out the sound of a bone breaking.

Voisin could no longer contain herself. Screams rang throughout the empty jail and tears fell from her eyes. She gripped at her leg and squeezed her eyes shut. The pressure was not being lifted. Rather, it was increasing and Voisin's cries rose in pitch and volume almost to match the pressure on her leg.

"_Okay!_" Barton yelled. "Fine!"

The boot was removed as Laufeyson smoothly turned around to look at the agent in the cell. Voisin was left panting, the stinging sensation in her thigh signaled the absence of extreme pain. She sent a weak look over to Barton. _No_. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

"Leave her alone. It's me you want."

"Quite right, Agent Barton," he said in a dangerously silky voice. "I was wondering why we even had to involve Agent Voisin at all."

Laufeyson advanced toward Barton and all Voisin saw before passing out again was the swishing of his emerald cape behind him.


	4. Articulation

**This chapter contains mature content.**

* * *

Encased in a bubble of warmth and sweet darkness, Voisin found herself waking in the safety of warm covers and a soft bed. The pain from Laufeyson's torture was gone and she felt new again, stiff almost. Icy fingers were tracing down her bare thigh and she found she did not mind the touch at all—in a way it was soothing. Until she realized who could possibly be touching her.

Voisin sat up, clutching the warm blankets to her chest that was clothed in only her bra. Similarly, the only thing that hid the lower half of her body from view of the world besides the blankets were her underwear.

Voisin was in a luxurious bed in a large room and to her left was the man who had kidnapped her. He watched her lazily with a smile on his face. His armor was absent and he wore only a silken, dark green button-up shirt and black pants. Half of his form was hidden under the heavy sheets.

"I was wondering when you would wake," he said. "I have been waiting for you for some time now."

Voisin's jaw clenched as she recalled Barton. "What did you do to him? Why am I—?"

"_Hush_." The word was dragged out and eventually became a _shhh_ing sound. Moving close to her, he said, "Agent Barton has been returned under the control of my Tesseract and will not be harmed again so long as he follows orders."

Suddenly, he moved quicker than Voisin could anticipate and had rolled on top of her, pinning her underneath his frame. He saw the fear in her eyes and planted gentle kisses along her neck, rubbing her arms gently as he tried to massage her fear-clenched muscles.

"I can make this pleasurable for you, darling," he whispered into her ear while tracing the side of her head gently. "Though you tried to escape me again, I can be merciful."

Voisin's heart had stopped long ago and her nerves were on end. "No," she said from between numb lips. "Do what you will with me, but leave me my mind." Allowing him to give her pleasure would be much worse than actually being violated.

"I thought you might say that," Laufeyson murmured into her neck. He then rested his fingers on her temple and she felt herself unclench against him as the will to fight left her body. "But you should really let yourself lose control sometimes, darling. I promise you, this will be much more enjoyable for the both of us."

Now, every feathery kiss he gave her as he made his way down her body sent chills through her spine. Everywhere he touched with his fantastically cold fingers gave her shivers. Everything he gave her, she wanted. And the unfortunate truth of the matter was that she wanted _more._

"Please," she begged as her last thought that contained any particle of wit crossed through her mind. "Don't."

Laufeyson removed his hand from the side of her head and touched her lips with his gingerly. "You do not really mean that, my pet," he whispered against her mouth.

_No, I don't…_ the irrational part of her mind whispered seductively to her.

She hesitated and then finally felt herself go completely slack. All fear left her body and she suddenly felt unabashed _desire_ clawing against her senses and forcing its way into her thoughts.

His hand traced a line down her belly, calling forth heat within it. The heat fought against her and begged to be released. She whimpered pitifully. The sound encouraged Laufeyson and he kissed her harder, tenderly demanding entrance against her lips. She obliged and he tasted her mouth, moving to trace the line of her teeth and then departing to let their tongues meet.

Voisin's arms were no longer pressed to her side in her unwillingness to touch him, but were now roaming across his back and tangling themselves in his hair. Her body warmed against him and her need made itself apparent between her legs that were wrapped around his waist as he continued to torture her with his lips.

All coherent thoughts were lost as lust consumed her body.

Laufeyson left her mouth and trailed kisses down her stomach as he shifted his attention to the curve of her breasts hidden behind the cloth of her bra. He unhooked the fabric and slid it down her arms. He tossed it aside as he began to worship her chest with his physical affection. Pitiful mewls were leaving her mouth that she did not even realize she was making until he returned to her mouth and cut off her whining with a heady kiss.

Voisin let herself be dominated and her fingers began unbuttoning his silk shirt. The buttons were not coming undone fast enough and she felt clumsy and childish. Once she made it halfway down the obstacle course of stitchery, Laufeyson sat up over her and easily pulled off the shirt. He was lean and muscular with alabaster skin that she thought had probably never gone uncovered by his armor in daylight.

He crawled back over her heated form and she shamelessly ran her hands down his chest and arms. She looked up at him and for the first time looked—_truly _looked—into his eyes. Bluish green hues greeted her in welcome and she found herself lost in something almost tender. Almost.

The look in his eyes was carnal and full of anticipation. There was a kind of gentleness she could tell was restraining him, perhaps of hurting her. _No_, something whispered to her. Because this was the same man who had tortured her and Agent Barton. He had no regard for others.

That something that had whispered to her then _roared_, making its presence known. Realization dawned and she understood what was happening.

"Mind control," she blurted, one part of her mind entirely disconnected from the events taking place.

Laufeyson sat up again.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, suspicion rising in his tone and clouding his eyes.

Voisin crossed her arms over herself and sat up, scooting back from him. Forcing away muddled thoughts of fleshly desire, she said, "You're using mind control."

A glint of approval shone in his intense eyes. "I am."

They stared at each other, Voisin with her hands over her chest and Laufeyson with himself still positioned on top of her legs. Sweeping away lascivious and muddled thoughts that were pressing in on her being, she tried to focus on holding his gaze. She was becoming dizzy from the effort of trying to resist his compulsion.

"How are you doing that?" he asked her curiously, a slight smile indicating his amusement tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Doing what?"

"Defying my wills."

Voisin pulled her legs out from under him and brought them up to her chest. The wetness between her thighs was uncomfortable now as her body cooled off.

Laufeyson moved closer to her and wrapped her in his arms. His thoughts were swimming around the entrance of her mind, trying to find a way in. But the ones that had already made their way into her were becoming stronger again and taking hold of her thoughts. She let him wrap her up in an embrace.

With his lips against her forehead, he said, "It would be a shame for us to stop now, dear. I was expecting much more from you."

He tilted her chin up to his face and gave her another kiss and she melted against him again. She found that submitting to him was like floating on the top of a pool whereas resisting was drowning in a tumultuous ocean.

"This is much easier, I think," he murmured softly. Silently, she agreed as unknown desire began filling her mind to the brim.

Not wasting any time, he hooked his fingers under her panties and slipped them down her legs. Warmth spread throughout her body again and her legs tangled with his. He traced a line down her hip and then ran it gingerly down the inside of her thigh. Laufeyson removed his hands from her and quickly undid his belt buckle and the fly of his pants. Voisin aided him and helped pull them down along with his underwear. His stiff member was now free and she ran a finger along the shaft of it experimentally. Laufeyson inhaled sharply. He crawled back up the length of her body as she helped guide him into her wetness.

He slipped in easily and entered slowly. At joining, they released a breath together that mingled around them, encouraging their love making. Laufeyson kissed her mouth, though without as much power as before because his mind was concentrated on moving in and out and also toying with the line of her lips.

His breathing was becoming ragged as his tempo increased. "You feel incredible," he said into the hollow of her throat. One of her hands was holding onto the back of his neck while the other gripped bed sheets around her.

Voisin's muscles began clenching around his member, calling forth an animalistic need within him. A moan broke free of his lips and he drove into her harder. His lips closed around a spot on her neck and he bit down with force enough to leave a mark that would surely last for several days. With each new thrust, a whimper left her. Her eyes were closed, lost entirely in the feeling of him and the way he felt inside her. His skin was warming against hers and the temperature difference was no longer as great.

The pleasure was reaching a point of intensity that could no longer be contained and soon Voisin's mind was entirely blank. She was standing at the gates ecstasy. Cool fingers reached below and rubbed at her sensitive bundle of nerves just over where the penetration was continuing, though more sporadic and needy than before. That touch was all she needed and suddenly white heat flashed in front of her eyes as she convulsed around him in a blood-rushing climax.

In the next minute, Laufeyson twitched within her and abandoned himself to pleasure, allowing his molten juices to intermingle with her own while also releasing a harsh groan of male satisfaction. Voisin was still pulsing around him and he was pressed into her. Laufeyson tilted her chin up and captured her mouth in a quick yet deep exploitation of her mouth.

He pulled out of her and rolled onto his side next to Voisin, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Strangely, she found comfort in his embrace and settled herself into his arms. Together, their breathing slowed and became even as they drifted off to sleep next to one another.

* * *

Voisin was greeted by the same encasement of warmth and contentedness that she had been when she woke up before. But this time, his arms were around her. Voisin pulled sheets over her bare chest and wriggled out of his grip. Laufeyson stirred next to her and opened one eye. Lazily he opened the second and then rolled onto his stomach, his arms under a pillow and his head turned toward her. The sheets over him had fallen around the small of his back, covering him from the waist down but not hiding the outline of his perfectly sculpted backside.

"You are the most ridiculously innocent creature when bedded," he said, his smooth voice no longer made husky by passion.

She stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, not knowing what to do or how to react. She was not required to make any move because in the next moment, a knock sounded on the door of Laufeyson's large room.

"Enter," he said almost wearily.

The door opened and Agent Barton walked in, his eyes an unimaginable blue. Cuts ran up and down his face and were accompanied with underlying bruises every so often. Voisin hastened to ensure that she was entirely covered by the thin sheet, but Barton didn't as much as look at her.

"You're needed in the council chambers of the Chitauri," he said carefully. "They're getting restless."

Laufeyson nodded and sat up, leaning against the headboard of the bed. "I will be there momentarily."

Barton nodded and slipped out again, closing the door behind him.

"See how simple?" he asked her as he turned from her, taking his legs off the side of the bed. He found his pants and slipped them over his legs. Voisin turned away as he stood, pulling them up completely. The sound of a fly zipping up and a belt being buckled signaled for her to meet his gaze again. "Agent Barton gave himself to me. _You_ allowed yourself to submit." He put on his shirt and began buttoning it up. "What more could there be for you?"

"So much more," Voisin muttered, looking away from him and toward the end of the bed. "Can't you understand? We think. We _feel_. If only you _knew_." Her voice rose with each point she made. Suddenly, she got an idea. She forced herself to look into his face again. "Let me convince you."

A shimmer of amusement flashed in his eyes. "And how would you do that?"

She swallowed. Voisin knew that he was just humoring her, but there was certainly no harm in trying. With a shaky breath she said, "Let me speak with you."

Laufeyson barked a laugh. "All right, then. Accompany me to the Chitauri and you can make your case."

"I am not, um, dressed," she said, blushing and looking away again. He looked around the room and strode over to something in the corner, picked it up, and threw it to her. Her underwear and bra. "Put those on," he said. "I will get you something to wear to over them." She took them in her hands and looked at him uncertainly.

"We have both seen the other unclothed," he said. "I do not understand why you should hide yourself from me now."

Voisin clenched her jaw at him before turning around and sitting cross-legged so he saw nothing but the curve of her breasts from behind her back, and her long legs. As she slid on her underwear, she could feel him watching her. Voisin put on her bra and hooked it behind her. When she was done, she turned around again.

"Come here, then," he said, motioning her to stand before him.

After a moment of hesitation, Voisin stood and did as he wanted as his eyes flashed to her breasts for a second. When she reached him, Laufeyson put a hand at the small of her back and brought her close to him, but so they were not touching. He waved his other hand and then brought his hand to her waist to move her away.

Voisin ignored his staring and looked down at herself as she felt a strange outward sensation begin to wrap around her body. Clothes were shimmering into existence on her figure. Her eyes widened as a green tank top settled on her torso and then as black cargo pants covered the bareness of her legs. When the transformation was complete, she looked back up at him and a silence passed between.

"That was kind of you," Voisin said as if she couldn't believe it.

"How so?" he asked, seeming confused as he began walking toward the door. She followed and when he walked through, he held the door open for her, taking her by surprise.

"You could have given me an indecent shirt or entirely inappropriate pants and yet you decided against it," she responded, going out into the hall.

"I'm not a _complete_ monster," he returned. They started walking. "But whether or not I give you clothing that provides little coverage or hides your entire body from view is irrelevant…. Because no matter what you wear, I will know every curve of your body, every hollow in your neck, all of the smoothness of your skin. Need I elaborate?" She shivered as they went. "I thought not. Step away for a moment, darling."

She looked at him, but his expression left no room for arguing so she did. Laufeyson closed his eyes for a moment before the same shimmering that had covered her now enveloped him and clothing began appearing on his moving form as well. The attire that adorned him was not a simple shirt and pant, but his armor along with his scepter that appeared in his hand. The gold gleamed in the stark lighting of the hallway.

Voisin followed a safe distance away until the shimmering light was gone and his armor was completely on. Understandably, she felt more inferior to him now.

"So, _Carline_," he articulated without looking down at her, "begin your argument as to why I should have mercy on the human race."

She was hurrying to keep up with his long strides as they took a turn to the left. Voisin had not realized she would have to speak so soon and stumbled on her words. "I, um, because we—because we started from nothing."

He laughed and waved that one away almost immediately. "Nonsense. Everyone starts from something, be it material possessions, poverty, or pride. Next?" he said, unimpressed.

"All right," she muttered, thinking quickly. "Um—children. What about the children?"

"What about them? If you're trying to build a case centered on _offspring_, then you are making a very poor case indeed. _Think_," he urged. "If I were to strip you of your shiny toys and leave you with nothing, what would you have left? What sets you apart?"

They walked for the next few minutes in silence.

"Emotion," she suddenly said.

"You—"

"No, Laufeyson, listen to me," she said, cutting him off sharply. "We know sadness. We know anger—rage, even. We know what happiness is and what love can be. We aren't stupid. I know that we've made mistakes, and huge ones at that. But why are you fixed on taking away our potential when we could achieve so much more?"

"Of course I'm not taking away your potential," he said as if to quell a child that felt slighted. "I wish to help you rebuild so that you may start _anew_—so that you can ignore past mistakes and begin again."

"We're meant to _remember_ past mistakes," she huffed. "Not _ignore_ them. And we learn from them for the better."

Laufeyson nodded thoughtfully. "You put that nicely. I suppose you are correct in that sense." They turned down another hallway. "So do all humans have insight such as you?"

She shook her head. "That wasn't insight from me," she said. "Humans came up with that a long time ago. The actual saying is something like: 'To prevent history from repeating itself.'"

They reached a large double door and he held it open for her. She walked in and was greeted by an entirely black room that was empty. Laufeyson walked in after her and his scepter glowed in the room with blue light. "I would love to hear about your theories and what stirs emotions within you. But later. At dinner. As for now, I wish to show you my army."

He put a steadying hand on her shoulder and waved the glowing end of the golden staff in a wide circle before them. The blackness disappeared and shrieking pervaded the air. It suddenly overwhelmed Voisin's ears as the grotesque shouting echoed throughout the huge amphitheater they were now standing in. The uproar seemed to increase in volume and ferocity when she and Laufeyson appeared in the center of the chaos.

Desks were surrounding them on all sides, rising up and up and up. Creatures sat behind the desks yelling at each other—some were sitting _on_ them and others were hopping from row to row menacingly. They were dark blue-gray things with a skeleton shaped like a human, but less evolved and more predatory. Their faces were nowhere near human with their bony, skeletal features, protruding teeth, and glowing yellow eyes.

Those eyes fell to her as a wave went through the crowd, realizing that there was a mortal in the room with them. Voisin unconsciously took a step behind Laufeyson.

"These," he said grandly, his confident smile not at all bothered by the demons in the chamber, "are the Chitauri."

* * *

**Hellooooo? Is anyone out there? I feel like I'm writing this for myself. Feedback is good, people! It encourages me to write. I have this whole story outlined. So I guess even if you don't talk to me about this in a review, I'll finish up this story for my own sake and leave it unpublished. **


	5. Stories

"_SILENCE!_"

The roar that was neither Laufeyson nor Voisin's rang throughout the chamber and all of the Chitauri fell into a hush. The one who had screamed was a Chitauri, calmly sitting in the front and staring at them. His yellow eyes bore into hers for a moment before they flashed at Laufeyson. She balled her hands into fists to keep herself from betraying her fear.

"What is this, Loki?" he asked, his voice gruff and distorted. "We demanded to meet with you in order to speak with you about war on this world. Not so you could show us off to your mortal _toy_." The Chitauri nodded towards Voisin briskly.

"The war has begun," Laufeyson said with a teeth-showing smile, ignoring the remark about Voisin being his 'toy.' "S.H.I.E.L.D. has declared war upon me—upon _us_. Soon enough, you will be able to fight." Voisin's eyes widened a fraction when she heard about S.H.I.E.L.D.

Several cheers among the crowd could be heard, but the leader did not look pleased.

"Your words mean nothing to us," he said, maintaining eye contact with Laufeyson. Some Chitauri behind him silently agreed. "You promised us a fight. It has been months now and we have been hovering above this planet for weeks. We want a war." More cheers.

"And you shall receive one," Laufeyson replied without falter. "I only ask you for more patience. I require several weeks, and then this world will be under my control."

This was met by general disapproval among the crowd, but the leader looked appeased.

"We give you no more than three," he said with an edge to his voice. "Three weeks, Laufeyson. Should it be longer, we shall have to consider becoming directly involved."

"I appreciate your continued faith in me, Kleiser," Laufeyson said cuttingly but with that smile still plastered to his face.

"Kleiser?" Voisin muttered to herself. "But that's—that's _German_."

"Yes," he said to her and then grabbing on to her arm. "Now, hold tight, dear."

Suddenly, Voisin felt strange. She looked at him and saw that they were disappearing and the chamber of Chitauri was beginning to swirl to black around her. She gripped the only solid thing she knew: Laufeyson's forearm. A falling sensation came over her but then her feet met solid ground and she was standing in that black room again with Laufeyson watching her intently in the light of his scepter.

"Kleiser," he said, opening the doors again and walking out with her behind him, "is the leader. He insists on me addressing him as his former Nazi identity, _Herr Kleiser_." They strode out into the light of the hallway.

"That's your army?" she asked, the question was slightly rhetorical.

"Yes. Impressive? Not entirely. But an abandoned son of Odin was fortunate to have rallied support from such a large species of scum to fight a war for him, I think."

He sounded bitter.

* * *

"_Carline_?"

That was Laufeyson calling her for dinner.

She walked out of the bathroom where she had been brushing her hair and went to the barred entrance of her room. He was standing there, dressed in black pants and a green shirt similar to the one he had worn this morning. She blushed and looked down as she thought this. He was waiting for her and looking her up and down as she came out to greet him.

Voisin was wearing a satin green shirt and skirt fit for having during a business proposal, she thought. Her shoes were heels, though they gave her only three inches of height, which she didn't mind much. A pearl necklace was elegantly draped around her neck. She had dressed without much protestation; she didn't mind these clothes.

"Are you ready?" he asked her. She nodded. "Then come with me."

Laufeyson held out his hand and it passed through the metal bars. She put her small hand in his and he pulled her through the doorway, the iron proving to be inexistent when he had influence over them. Then she was standing in the hallway and her hand was still in his grasp.

"So," he began as they walked down the passageway together, "I believe you were going to continue our conversation today about the supposed 'beauty' of being human?"

This had been the only thing Voisin thought about the entire day since their visit to the Chitauri council rooms. She was ready.

"_Oui_," Voisin said, abandoning her American pretense for just a moment.

"Then by all means, proceed," he said in a falsely gracious manner. "I am eager to hear everything you wish to tell me about human emotion."

Voisin risked a glance up at him. He was staring ahead, focused on their walk. Her heels clicked loudly against the floor and echoed around them as they went.

"Well," she began in her refined mid-western accent again, "you asked me, if you were to take everything from us, what we would have left?" She took in a steadying breath. "Humanity."

A smile tugged on the side of his lips. "You make a valid point." Condescension was in his voice.

"You're not listening to me. Humanity isn't just a word to describe our species—it's everywhere. It's in all of us. It's in our minds, our books, our history, our genetic _codes_. Humanity can serve as an explanation for mercy, love, compassion—we were made with more than a need to be ruled. We were made to _be human_."

_Now_ Laufeyson was paying attention.

"But is it not curious how a species could desire such wants when, really, the only thing they need is a leader?" he asked in playful argument.

"We don't _need_ a leader," she retaliated, though much more serious than Laufeyson. "We need to love each other and we want to experience everything there is to be known before we die."

"Such as…?"

Voisin paused to think. "True love. Friendship. Knowledge. Happiness."

Laufeyson sent her a sidelong glance, but looked quickly away when he realized that she had taken notice when his eyes had fallen to her. "What inspires such emotions?" he asked, quick to recover from his hesitation.

"What do you mean?"

"What makes love something that demands to be experienced? Or friendship? I understand the craving of knowledge perfectly well, but perhaps I only know it in terms of Asgardians. Tell me why _Mid_gardians want it—and then tell me of happiness and what makes humans feel it."

It was a strange question. Laufeyson must have seen the hesitation in her eyes, because he interrupted her thoughts and suggested, "Perhaps this will be easier: I will name something—an event, a place, a picture—and you will describe to me how it makes you feel. Your answer does not require thought, merely tell me what you feel the instant the words leave my lips."

Fair enough. "All right." They turned a corner and then reached the end of a hall. He opened a door on his left for them and they walked in together. It was another small dining room with a table set for two. They sat down.

With his elbows resting on the table and the tips of his fingers pressing together, he looked thoughtful at what he would say first. She watched him intently, waiting for whatever it would be.

"Pain."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Only you would think of something like that to begin this game, Laufeyson."

He _hmph_ed at her comment, but a hint of a smile hid itself in shadows on his face. "Call me Loki."

Voisin was taken aback. _Call him Loki? _The entire time she'd known of him, Voisin had been addressing him as Laufeyson. She surveyed him and saw him eyeing her as well, sizing her up. But for what?

"Pain, you say?" she asked, deciding not to allow him the pleasure of seeing her squirm under his gaze.

Laufeyson nodded slowly.

Voisin leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "You will need to clarify what you mean by that."

"Physical pain. Torture, even. Yes, we will narrow it down to torture." The slight smile turned into a smirk.

She averted her eyes, no longer caring whether or not she was displaying her nervousness for him to see. "I do not want to talk about torture—please. Something else."

Voisin felt his judgment and confusion at her avoidance of the question. He didn't comment on it, thankfully. "Books, then."

She swallowed and recovered herself, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Books," she repeated softly. More confidently, she said, "They are escape." The look on his face allowed her to see he needed an explanation. "Some humans exist on a routine that they follow day to day. They're not privileged enough to be an Asgardian prince, or an adventurer, or a celebrity. Some just simply don't enjoy the life they're living. Books are stories—passageways to the unknown—and with them, a thousand different lives could be experienced."

His brows came together in confusion, but then quickly went on their way. "Ah, yes. You speak of fiction."

"Don't writers on Asgard write stories?"

"Where I was raised, authors usually write informative books. We have the equivalent of Midgardian fairytales, I believe. Folklore, traditional oral tales, ballads… fictional novels are slightly uncommon."

Voisin was entirely surprised. "That's awful!" she cried with genuine sympathy. "Don't you enjoy imaginative narratives?"

He leaned forward in his chair as his finger traced his lips thoughtfully. "Well, all in Asgard are not privileged enough to have the ability to read. The ones who do hold high political positions. It would be impractical to waste time printing several thousand manuscripts of fiction that a politician will never read and that will go unnoticed or disregarded by the serfs."

She rested her head on her palm and suddenly realized that she was leaning forward in her seat as well, captivated by where this conversation was headed. "Why is it that only politicians read? What kind of educational systems are there in Asgard?"

"Personally, I am unaware of all the ways of learning. I was taught to read and write by my m—by the Queen. I was tutored in mathematics and science by the court physician, and the King taught me of warfare…"

They talked about the political system, religions, economics, and society, each explaining the ways of one planet to the other. Laufeyson saw some benefits of Midgardian society while Voisin agreed that Asgard was much better than Earth in some aspects of daily life. With every new subject they covered, each grew more animated in their speech.

Sometime during their talking, an impressive meal was served and they ate together. Wine was served and both sipped on their drink.

When they were done discussing the logical workings of each planet, they talked about nature. Voisin was interested to find that Loki shared a love for early morning just as she did. They began telling stories of the most brilliant sunrises they had ever seen, and though Asgard's appeared to be much different than Earth's, they were somehow still the same.

The dinner was finished and they continued drinking the wine. After opening a second bottle of the stuff, Voisin loosened up enough to laugh at one of Loki's tales of how he had gotten into trouble when he was younger, a story involving a stork, three pigs, and some bread from a feast that had yet to take place that evening.

Voisin found Loki's company tolerable, even enjoyable at times, and grew accustomed to using his given name when addressing him. Her behavior could be blamed on the heavy amount of wine they were consuming, but Loki also seemed to think she was a riveting thing to converse with. Loki even allowed himself to smile at her, his eyes crinkling around the edges. This inspired in her the thought he had the ability to look kind.

"Do you always wear green?" she asked, gesturing haphazardly at the shirt he wore.

He looked down at his emerald green button-up and chuckled softly. "Yes. I didn't used to, however." Loki looked up at a patch of ceiling somewhere above her as he recalled his past. "I would wear blues, oranges, even reds. But then my… jealousy for my brother consumed me, body and soul, ruling everything I would do. Green seemed mildly appropriate, don't you think?"

She frowned. Jealousy. Hm. Voisin looked up again. "What happened to you?"

Loki's brows contracted and a deep line of thought appeared between them as his lips turned down around the edges. "Family quarrels," he replied simply. Understanding that his poor explanation needed elaboration, he continued, "That, of course, would be the short version of the story. The longer one is complicated, to say the least. I found myself hating my brother and his stupid ignorance to reality.

"No one could never really understand, though. What brought me to leave was not only him. My mother and father pushed me away with their blind kindness—with their insistence on overlooking my obvious flaws. I was the only one sane enough to understand reality's potency." His joyousness had faded long ago and he was now glaring at the dinner table.

"I had nowhere else to go and in an act of desperation I let go." His hands clenched around a fistful of tablecloth. "I fell off of the Bifrost."

He looked up. "Thanos found me, bloodied and broken." Suddenly, his voice was no longer morose. "Thanos caught me and gave me a reason to live. I was unwilling at first, but that was while my judgment was still partially clouded by those fools I had once called my family. Thanos… convinced me."

Voisin's frown hardened. "But—"

"Enough of me," he interrupted, donning his confidence again. "I just told you something I have said to no one else. Now it is my turn to ask _you_ a question, Carline."

She closed her eyes to blink but when she did she found herself in the dark for half a second longer than she should have. Forcing the dizziness away, she tried to keep herself upright to answer Loki's question. Hopefully what he asked would require a simple answer.

"Why do you care so much for the civilians?" His eyes bore into hers and she felt her stomach drop. Voisin shivered and shook her head, overemphasizing the movement in her inebriated state.

"They don't deserve to die."

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "No, that is not the only reason. There's something else. I can see it, just behind your walls. Something peeking out of a tower window—something you've kept locked up well."

"You mustn't tell anyone," she pleaded, suddenly desperate.

"Mustn't tell them what?"

"It had been my father." She hung her head as shame bubbled up inside of her and forced a tear from her eye. "My father and two of his colleagues were working undercover as bankers at a convention. A team of armed men—a small resistance group that believed they had what it took to quietly take over the French world of espionage—assumed control and took my father and his two _confrères_ as hostages.

"My only job was to remove the civilians from the convention center. I was supposed to get everyone out and keep them safe, but I arrived too late to save them. Afterwards, the kidnappers demanded a ransom as well as information about the country's espionage system and what other projects were occurring. By the way of a phone call from their kidnappers, we learned that my father and his men were being and questioned about their current mission, but they hadn't given up. Easily, we traced the signal of the phone they had used to call us and we found that they were located near the _Adour_ _Rivière_." She swallowed.

"I knew the government wouldn't allow me to organize a group of us to rescue them, so I convinced them to let me go alone. They agreed, but another agent wanted to go with me—Agent Barton, who had been stationed in France at the time. On the _Adour_, we were hit with a dart dipped in some kind of narcotic and we were captured.

"We were placed in separate small containers with room enough for us to curl up in. That was when I discovered I had… what do you say?" She stopped and thought, then snapped her fingers. "Claustrophobia." Voisin took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "We were confronted by our kidnappers and then they brought out my father…" she trailed off, not wanting to go on.

"Well, the end involves him dying. The American government sent in reinforcements because Clint Barton is an incredibly valuable asset to them. We were rescued before anything else could really happen."

Loki's brows had been brought together throughout her story and he looked almost sympathetic. "How unimaginably… unfair."

She took another sip of wine. When she went to put the glass down, a bit of the red liquid sloshed onto the tablecloth.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," she muttered, cleaning the mess with her napkin in order to preoccupy her mind.

"I fear you may have had too much to drink," he said, watching her dab at the tablecloth. "My servants will take care of the mess. Come; let me take you to your room."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his and she suddenly was very nervous. He must have sensed that in her because next he said, "My intentions are entirely honorable. Please, Carline, allow me to walk you to your home."

Voisin nodded, though the movement made her head feel heavy—as though there were weights in her skull that were rolling back and forth in accordance to each way her head went. She stood and nearly fell back into her seat, but suddenly he was there holding onto her arm as she found her balance again.

"Thank you, Loki."

* * *

When Voisin woke up the next morning, she groaned at the dizziness that overcame her. The light that came in from the hallway between the bars of her room was bright enough to make her squint against the harshness of it. She buried her face in her pillow and sighed deeply. Voisin didn't remember everything that they had spoken about last night, but she did know that she had confided in him the story of her father—a story she had only told twice before: to the French spy agency, and then to S.H.I.E.L.D.

She shook herself mentally.

Voisin needed a shower. She got up out of bed and walked blearily over to the small bathroom her room had. Flicking on the light and locking the door behind her, she turned on the warm water and stripped out of her clothes.

She stepped into the shower and closed the fogged up doors so she was left in a world of steam with only blurred images of the outside world protruding into the doors of her sanctuary. The water rolled off her skin and the tension in her muscles rolled away with it. A relaxed breath left her as she began lathering her hair with shampoo that had been resting on the side of the tub. After her hair was thoroughly washed, Voisin began shaving with supplies that had been with the shampoo. She washed herself off with soap after and soon she was just standing under the hot water, allowing it to push her further into tranquility.

Suddenly, the bathroom door was opening. But she was sure she'd locked it! Frozen with fear and vulnerability, Voisin watched as a tall man in a dark green shirt entered and closed the door behind him.

Loki?

He slowly began unbuttoning his shirt. He took it off and then undid his pants, sliding them down to pool around his ankles. Kicking off his shoes and stepping out of his trousers, he came near the door of the shower. Just as he opened it, Voisin had the sense to crouch down, covering her indecency.

He was naked. He wasn't trying to hide himself, but gave her a full view of his arousal. Stepping into the shower and closing the steamy doors behind him, the space became twice as small with two people in it. The water ran down him and made him shine in the fluorescent bathroom lights.

Loki reached down and took her elbow in his hand. He tugged on it gently and looked deeply into Voisin's eyes. She felt her fear dissipate and she stood up. Loki closed the space between them in half a step and she was pressed against the wall and he was pressed against her.

Even without his armor, Voisin felt small compared to him; she was nearly a foot shorter than he was and her head went just past his bare torso. She looked up at his face.

"Would you like me to make this a pleasant experience for you, pet?" he asked huskily, rubbing her shoulders as the water continued to fall around them.

She hesitated. Did she want to give in willingly this time? His member poking her in the midsection interrupted her thoughts and she suddenly felt an undeniable attraction for him that she blamed on the compulsion he was using on her.

Voisin nodded. "Yes."

Loki smirked, pleased by her response.

"Lovely."

Two fingers touched the side of her head and she closed her eyes against the abrupt stimulation rushing through her body. Her slight hangover (though a hangover nonetheless) was gone, replaced by her arousal. His body that was pressed to hers drove her insane and proper thoughts could no longer cross the threshold of her mind. An audible whimper left her mouth and Loki immediately covered it with a deep kiss and a grunt of his own that signified his readiness.

Loki's hand grabbed her thigh and brought it around him. Voisin wrapped her leg around his waist and brought him even closer to her.

Heat was pooled in her stomach and liquids that were not water made her thighs slick for him. Her breathing was becoming heady and Loki's hands weren't in as many places as she'd like. Voisin's arms went around his neck and her brows furrowed as she tried to deepen their kiss. He pulled back.

Smiling, he said, "What an interesting situation this is. Never have I had the opportunity to take a woman under a fountain such as this." He motioned to the showerhead. "You have the advantage of having me in a place I have never been in, darling." Loki leaned down to whisper in her ear, "_What will you do with me?_"

Voisin bit back a squeak. Looking into his green eyes, she felt raw desire claw at her mind and she gladly let it in. She picked up the bar of soap and went to her knees.

Slicking her hands with the soap, she put her hands on his shaft and began working it thoroughly. Leaving the tip of him alone, Voisin ran her hands down and around his member, making him grow even harder. She put the soap down and let the suds wash off him. Then, very coyly, she put the head of him in her mouth and swirled her tongue around it playfully.

Loki was having none of this. Bracing himself against the wall above her, he thrust into her mouth, taking her by surprise. She almost gagged when he touched the back of her throat. Ever so gently, her teeth grazed the length of him as he entered the entirety of himself into her. He hissed at the painful pleasure and Voisin corrected herself by humming for him. His hardness twitched and Loki let out a deep growl.

Moving her head back as he reciprocated and pulled out slightly, she was able to toy with him using her tongue. In another minute, he was pushing back in all the way. He pulled out, leaving the tip of himself inside with a hiss. She moved her eyes upward and saw him looming over her as he bit his lip to keep from making sounds.

He grinned down at her. "How does it feel to have the might of a god at your lips?" he panted.

She smirked with him in her mouth. Loki raised his brows in surprise and anticipation of what was meant by that. Voisin didn't want to leave him with the ability to speak when she was done.

She imitated swallowing around him and the contraction made him cry out. She gave a laugh and then began working him with everything she had—stroking, sucking, licking, and teasing him.

"You do wonders with that mouth," he nearly spat around labored breaths. "Know that when you are done here, we will make the roughest love I can imagine."

That spurred her on and she continued with renewed vigor. Bringing him to the back of her throat and moaning again for him tipped Loki over the edge and he pumped himself in and out of her as he came.

He grunted as he shot his final bit into her .

In the limited space, Loki pulled out and brought Voisin to her feet so they were standing together again. He lifted her leg up and, without hesitation, drove himself into her wet heat. She gasped loudly at the feeling of him inside of her again.

Burying himself deep with each thrust, they held nothing back. She arched her back toward him and he pounded into her with a fierce paroxysm. The sounds they made mingled in the vapored air around them and surely carried past the bathroom door and out into the hallway. Flesh slapping against flesh filled Voisin's mind as his length managed to stroke her bud of nerves, sending her thoughts into oblivion.

Panting, she was ascending higher and higher into nothingness as pleasure began to stab against her mind each time he claimed her with a forceful plunge of his manhood. Her vision blurred and her muscles clenched.

Just as Voisin was about to reach her end, Loki removed himself from her. She whimpered at the lost and opened her eyes (which she hadn't realized she had closed) to wonder why he had ceased his motions.

"Meet my gaze as I bring you to the gates of unabashed pleasure, _Carline_. But allow me to test your Midgardian limits; I want to know how many times I can bring you there, and yet not allow the gatekeeper to let you inside."

Loki knelt down in front of her and threw her leg over his shoulder. He brought his face close to her heat and licked a line from her core, pausing momentarily at her exposed bead, then traced an invisible pattern that made its way to her left breast.

With his mouth, he captured a nipple and tongued it teasingly, using his teeth to make her moan. With his hand, he gently squeezed and stroked her other naked breast, causing her to arch toward him in the most wanton way.

Loki moved back up to her mouth. With his tongue he forced her lips apart and slid it in and out of her mouth expertly as she whimpered for him.

Thinking he had played her long enough, he slid her legs apart and filled her in one swift motion. She whined into his mouth and he smiled against her lips. Violently rocking against her, he reached between them and began rubbing her just above the spot he was impaling her at. With a few skillful strokes, her legs gave out and white light flashed before her eyes and consumed her mind. She came, _hard_.

Supporting her as he continued to thrust into her, the pulsing around him caused him to go wild with abandon and he convulsed against her as their passion crested. In glorious waves of splendor, he gave a harsh cry and buried his face in the crook of her neck, biting down to muffle his sudden satisfaction. With two more slow pumps into her to ensure the job was done, he pulled out.

Loki looked at her in his arms as she tried to steady herself. Her eyes were hooded with pleasure and she was breathing heavily.

No longer in the throes of passion, realization dawned over Voisin. Her eyes opened completely and she pushed Loki away from her.

"Oh. I—"

"No more of that 'virtuous virgin' act." He covered her mouth. "Regret will take you nowhere, agent."

With that, he let go of her and turned off the water. Opening the shower door, he stepped out and passed her an expensive white towel. Voisin took it and wrapped it around herself. Loki unfolded one of his own and tucked his around his waist. "Come," he said. "I have a gift for you."

Voisin's brows furrowed. Acting as though what had just occurred never actually took place, she followed him out of the bathroom.

Agent Barton was sitting in the corner of the room with his hands over his ears. His eyes were no longer a bright glowing blue; his face was ashen gray with sweat beading on his forehead, and chapped lips quivering in what Voisin thought might be fear.

Wait.

That was disgust.

_He had heard them in the shower._

Voisin rushed to Agent Barton, clutching her towel around her. She knelt beside him and tried to place the back of her hand on his forehead, but he cringed away from her. She whirled on Loki.

"Bastard," she growled. "He'll never trust me now."

He merely shrugged. "I thought you would enjoy your present, considering what you told me last night about your father. I can take him back—he is quite useful—"

"No," she blurted, ignoring the pang in her stomach when he mentioned her father. More softly she said, "No, I'll take care of him."

"Very well. I'll have servants bring up supplies." Loki walked past the bars at her doorway with ease. He turned around and rested his forehead on one of the iron rods, proving to her that he could manipulate them with his magic. "Oh, I have something else to tell you, agent." He beckoned her over.

Voisin shook her head. He quirked a brow threateningly. She pursed her lips and went to him.

"Come here," he said, making it clear that he wanted to whisper something in her ear. Reluctantly Voisin tilted her head up toward him and she heard him lean down to accommodate her. "_He cannot escape, or the consequences will be dire_." He took her chin in his hand and then kissed her on the lips before she jerked back. Loki laughed and left. As he walked down the hall, she saw him using magic to conjure his armor to cover his half-naked form.

Voisin looked back to Clint. She made to go to him, but as soon as she took two steps forward he hissed, "Stay away from me."

"Barton, it's me. Carolyn."

He shook his head quickly from side to side. "No. You're not Carolyn. You're _fucking_ that bastard."

Her skills as a spy came back into place and she lied to him in her American accent without hesitating:

"You're delusional, Clint. It's the aftereffects of the Tesseract. You're _imagining_ this—he's making you believe that so you won't trust me anymore."

"No, I _heard_ it. I—"

"Yes, but you _saw_ nothing. Clint, the Tesseract has powers that can turn you against me if you allow it. Do not let it into your mind. I'm here to make you better."

She saw him unclench his muscles, but the mistrust was still there. Slowly, as she looked imploringly into his calm blue eyes with her own brown ones, the suspiciousness dissipated from him. Voisin didn't know if he was just acquiescing because he was tired or if he really believed what she said about the Tesseract. It was no matter, however, because either way, Clint was going to cooperate.

"Come on, let me help you with those cuts," she said, mentioning the bad scrapes on his face and arms. One specifically on his left forearm was going to need stitches.

Voisin helped him up and supported him as they walked to the bathroom together. A picture of the floor flashed through her mind and she remembered that Loki's clothes were lying in the middle of the room.

"Just a moment," she said. She left him leaning against the wall and slipped into the bathroom quickly.

Voisin opened a cabinet and threw in the dark silk shirt, the pants, and his shoes. Quickly, she dressed and wet down a corner of her towel to clean Barton's cuts with.

She opened the door for him and he came in.

"Sit on the floor," she said, motioning for him to situate himself somewhere in the middle. He did and she joined him. "We'll have to wait for Loki's 'supplies' to arrive until I can do something more than this," she said as she dabbed at some of his cuts on his cheek.

The wall was back up in a flash and he froze against her touch. "You call him Loki now?"

She realized her mistake too late. Coming up with another lie, she said, "He forced me to. It's automatic now."

The wariness was gone again and he nodded in understanding. She bit the inside of her lip. She was going to have to weave a web of lies in order for him to trust her entirely once again.


	6. Goodbye

Barton was suspicious.

He was healing well under the care of Voisin, but the stress was making his face pale and the bags under his eyes prominent. Mistrust was a dangerous feeling in espionage, and the thought of a fellow agent being compromised was unwelcome to all.

Voisin was doing her best to take care of her friend, but the way he stared at her suspiciously when he thought she wouldn't notice unnerved her. She knew that he could recognize that she and Loki had some kind of relationship. The fact that Voisin continued to beg Barton not to try to escape did not help the matter; Loki's threat rang true in her mind—that if Barton should escape and be caught, the consequences would be great.

However Laufeyson had not made the task of convincing Clint any easier. Sometimes he would come in the middle of the night while Barton was shaking in the small bed, asleep in a cold sweat because of what memories the Tesseract gave him. Loki would go to the corner of the room that Voisin was curled up in and wake her by stroking her hair or rubbing her back. Voisin would start and her head would jerk up quickly, taking in her surroundings as she had been trained to do. She saw Laufeyson and shied away until he touched the side of her temple in order for her to give up the will to fight him. Sometimes Barton noticed them sneak out, but usually he did not.

Voisin was curled up in the corner of their shared room, listening to Barton's pattern of heavy breathing that was interrupted every so often by a short moan or an exhausted grunt. Her neck was stiff and sore, and she was extremely tired herself, but she did not want to be taken by surprise as she had last night when Loki woke her up by trying to unzip her jeans. Voisin had instinctively punched him in the face and for that she had been treated roughly by him in the darkness of his lust and the room.

But Loki left her alone tonight. No one came into the bedroom and the only sounds that Voisin heard were Clint's whimpers of subconscious torture and the occasional footfalls of a worker that passed the bars of their doorway.

A gravelly, sleepy voice said, "Carolyn?"

"What is it, Clint?" she asked in her American accent in order to soothe him and make everything feel as normal as possible.

"We need to get out of here." He started to get out of bed, but Voisin ran over and had him lie back down.

"No," she said firmly as she pressed a hand to his chest, "you can't."

"Did he tell you to keep me here?" he asked suspiciously, the tiredness ebbing out of his words. "Come closer—let me see your eyes."

Voisin knew what he was doing. "Clint, it's not the Tesseract. Loki threatened to do awful, awful things if you tried to escape again. You look appalling and do you remember what he did to you before? He could have killed you."

"Just come here."

She sighed, but kneeled at the side of his bed for him. Barton took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Brown," he said. "All right." He brushed his thumb across her cheek and then released her. Voisin sat back on her folded legs and rubbed her neck. "Here." She looked up and Barton was patting the bed. Voisin stood and sat on the edge of the bed and Barton sat up. "Let me."

He put his hands on her back and began massaging her shoulders and neck. It felt good. Voisin let out a noise of contentedness and lost herself in the feeling of his hands moving across her back. And then Barton hit a particular spot on her neck below the base of her skull and suddenly she was in the arms of unconsciousness.

* * *

"_No_."

The word left her lips the moment she woke up. _Where is Barton? What has Loki done to him?_ Voisin sat up quickly and the sound of bedsprings reached her ears. She looked down. She was lying on the bed in her room Loki had given her. But then where was Barton?

Voisin got out of bed, vaguely noticing that she was still wearing her T-shirt and shorts from the other day. She went to the small bathroom and peeked in. Empty.

Voisin ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She had made such a foolish mistake! And where was her co-op now? This was her fault; Voisin was entirely responsible for this.

She walked out of the bathroom and saw that there was a huge hole in the wall. Plaster was missing and light shone in from another source besides the hallway outside her room. It was the neighboring enclosure—Barton had kicked a hole in the wall and crawled through in lieu of a way out.

Voisin fit through easily and found herself on the other side in less than a minute. She was in a room similar to hers, but with a proper door instead of enchanted bars.

"Clint?" she said hesitantly.

No reply.

Voisin walked to the door and opened it a crack. She peered outside, but the corridor beyond seemed to be empty. The agent pushed the door open wider and her suspicions were confirmed: no one was there. She stepped out and shut the door behind her.

Voisin went down the hallway cautiously, masking the sound of her footsteps with stealth. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest and she willed it to quiet itself. She reached the end of the corridor, a turn was approaching and she pressed her back against the wall. She peered around the corner and there was the last person she had wanted to see.

Loki.

Unfortunately, he saw her too.

It was only for a fourth of a second and then Voisin pulled back quickly, hiding herself behind the corner and closing her eyes in fear.

"Ah, Carline," he said, his voice smooth and void of any emotion. "I knew you would come." She gave up, knowing he'd definitely seen her. Voisin stepped into his view and put her hands on her hips. To her surprise, Loki was sitting at a table with a white cloth draped over it with an open book lying face-down on top of it. _The Lord of the Flies_.

The book caught her off guard, but she quickly regained her composure and met his eyes. "Where is Barton?"

He sighed and stood up, clasping his hands behind his back. "Agent Barton has made a very foolish decision. As I have said before, escape attempts are not rewarded kindly. Fortunately for your archer friend, I have a job for him at Stuttgart. I have placed him under the influence of the Tesseract once again in order for him to complete this mission; he will not have to face my wrath for betraying you."

She frowned. "How did you—?" He must have been referring to how Clint had knocked her unconscious before trying to escape.

"I found you lying on your bed. Agent Barton was missing. It was not difficult for me to figure what happened to you."

"Where is he?" she asked, glaring at her captor.

He looked entirely unfazed. In fact, he moved closer to where she was standing and looked down into her eyes; her anger was no hindrance to him. "In confinement."

"Let me see him."

"Absolutely not."

"Laufeyson, I demand that you—"

Suddenly, his cool, refreshing scent was in her face and Loki was quieting her with a kiss. Voisin took a moment to catch on before she realized what was happening. She pushed him away abruptly and their lips broke contact as Loki pulled away and stepped back.

"What the _hell_ was that?" she asked, frozen in place.

He gauged her reaction and then shrugged it off nonchalantly. "Nothing. An experiment." His trademark smirk was back in place.

She shook her head and took several steps back from him and then turned and ran away.

* * *

Voisin was sent back to her room for the rest of the day. All it took for Loki to fix the hole in her wall was a wave of his hand. She was trapped in here in a rage. Again.

After a long day of crying hateful tears and drowning in the knowledge of defeat, Loki visited her. It was night she had been on the very edge of sleep when she felt something else climb into her small, narrow bed with her. Voisin gasped, but he covered her mouth with his hand before she could say anything else.

"Hush," he said as he crawled over her. He was wearing black pants and a button up shirt rather than his ridiculous armor. "Tonight is important to me."

Her struggles stopped and the confused look on her face was enough of a question.

Loki was looking down at her, the ends of his black hair tickling the sides of her face. The light from the hallway partially illuminated his figure. "Tomorrow I begin my attack against S.H.I.E.L.D." Laufeyson tried to move in again, but Voisin stopped him.

"What?" she tried to say. Loki removed his hand so she could speak. "What are you going to do?" Panic was seeping into her voice.

He laughed at her naivety and replied, "So you can hate me and spend the next several days trying to escape this prison to come and stop me? I think not. Now, come here, darling, let me protect you from your precious mind."

Without another word, Loki positioned himself on top of her and began kissing her neck. His slender fingers touched the side of her head and all of her thoughts left her completely. Voisin felt disgust at herself for the briefest of moments, and then only the anticipation of pleasure.

In the darkness of the room, Loki and Voisin devoured each other. Voisin was getting used to the way his lips moved and she was learning to work with his expertise and use it against him. But the bed was too small for both of them, so Loki got up and took her hand, leading her over to the corner of the room. When they were seated and embracing again, his tongue traced patterns in her mouth and Voisin's entangled with his and they fought for control. Loki, of course, was having none of this and he pressed her into the wall and situated himself so that he was kneeling before her, his hands on both sides of her face. Voisin pushed him back and he obliged, lying back on the floor. She crawled over him and leaned down to kiss him, but Loki turned them over too easily and he was the one on top.

A quiet moan escaped her mouth when Loki reached under the waistband of her pants and stroked her under her panties. His long fingers rubbed her slick sex and then retreated to bring them to his lips and taste her. Voisin sat up and began unbuttoning his shirt. When she got to the fourth button, Loki pulled the shirt over his head and discarded it somewhere in the corner. In turn, Loki removed Voisin's blouse and began undoing her pants.

Something clawed at the back of her mind. Something was causing her thoughts to resurface in her mind.

_Barton_.

"What did you do with Barton?" she said.

"It is none of your concern at the moment," Loki replied without concern.

"_Il est mon ami_. He is my _friend_."

"So he is. Yet friends come and go, do they not?" She was glaring at him now. "It matters not," he said with less enthusiasm, "Agent Barton is in a deep sleep, nightmaring about his helplessness and the concept of slavery. He will understand what it is like to be under the control of the dual reign of myself and the Tesseract—he will know true submission."

Loki's will upon her was entirely gone now and Voisin sat up quickly, slipping out from under his frame in less than a second. She found her shirt in the relative darkness (sans the light from the hallway leaking into her room) and threw it on.

Standing over the man who was watching her interestedly, Voisin said, "Get out."

Loki looked confused. "I beg your pardon?"

"Get out of this room," her voice was shaky.

He laughed, "You jest."

Voisin shook her head. "No, _je suis sérieux_. Get out. Stop manipulating me, stop making me feel things for you with your ridiculous magic. I have my _own_ feelings. I—"

"Only if _I_ say you do, _Carline_, and I have been kind enough to allow you your emotions. That can change in a moment's notice if you decide to test me. You are my prisoner—my _slave_—you have no right to anything anymore."

She looked at him with disbelief. "How _dare_ you?" Her accent was falling from her lips in rivulets. "You have _enormous_ psychological problems. _Vous êtes fou_. I know that you were hurt by your family, but, Loki—"

Pain flashed in his eyes and a snarl curled at his lips. "_Do not_ mention my family, _Carline_. _Never_ speak to me about them to me again, do you understand?" The question was rhetorical. "Now, do you want me to leave?" He stood up and backed Voisin into a wall with four steps. "Is that what you want, Carline?" Loki placed his hands on either side of her shoulders, trapping her there until he wanted to let her go.

But Voisin was suddenly and almost inexplicably in control. She stared up into his rage-filled eyes and tried to read him. Voisin was no longer scared. What he had just done reminded her of something she knew well… something that she couldn't put her finger only properly. It was a defense mechanism that she'd known herself. It was vulnerable, and childish, and it was _human_. Voisin wanted to brush the black hair from his face that had fallen into his eyes during his outburst and calm him, to reach beyond his anger and navigate through his neglect.

He reminded her of pain.

Loki was staring at her just as hard and what he saw in her was breaking him down. His blue eyes broke their contact with Voisin's and he looked at the ground instead. Laufeyson was ashamed because they both knew that he was not whole. There was a large piece of him missing, left somewhere in the world known as Asgard. Love of a family. One by one, his defenses came down and his arms were no longer pinning her down, but supporting his frame as it went slack against the downpour of memories.

Instead of breaking down as a mortal man would have, Loki just looked tired. In fact, when he gazed at Voisin again from beneath his dark lashes, he looked exhausted.

They were so close now, Voisin noticed. She could feel his breath on her face as he released his loneliness in the form of deep exhalations. Loki was looking at her as if she was an entirely new person. She saw tears forming in the corners of his eyes, but he seemed to refuse to let them roll down his cheek-even in his most defenseless state, Loki would not let himself lose control in such a way. In the light of the room, the blue of his irises seemed to glow with innocence and the desire for a fresh start—_passer l'éponge_.

And another thing both of them knew was that Loki was too far in with his dangerous game to ask for such a thing.

"Carline Voisin," he said. His voice had taken on a soft timbre to it that she had never heard before. "I wish to thank you."

She was confused. Her mouth opened to speak, but no words came out she was so taken aback.

"You have shown me what it's like to be human. Through your eyes, I have explored Earth and I have found it to be beautiful. Initially I was puzzled by the concept of what you called 'humanity,' but now that I have been on the receiving end of it I understand completely what you strive for."

Voisin was shocked. When the meaning of the words finally, _truly_ hit her, tears welled up in her eyes. He stood there before her, looking like a murderer on trial, but the way his eyes bore into hers—imploringly, weakly, and so _honestly_—made her stop her judgment.

Voisin stepped forward and took him into her arms. He was stiff, not knowing what to do. But Carline felt a droplet of water on her shoulder. Several more followed and then he was falling to his knees, clutching at her like a piece of driftwood out at sea. At this height, his face was pressed into her abdomen as he cried into the shirt she was wearing.

This went on for a long time until he stood up, quickly turning away from her as he wiped his eyes.

"Loki—"

"Please," he said thickly, "don't speak. I must go."

"No, wait. I'm sorry."

He paused. "Never apologize to me again, agent. I will not ever be able to accept such words from someone so wholesome."

She chewed her bottom lip, mulling over the next thing she was about to say. "Stay with me."

His head turned in her direction ever so slightly. "What?"

Voisin went to him and took his hand in hers gently. She had been beginning to suspect why he'd broken down—why he had bared himself to her tonight. He must have known the odds were against him and finally realized that S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to kill him. Or worse. "Just… stay with me tonight. _S'il vous plaît_."

Loki's hand gripped hers and he faced her again. And pulled her arm so she came forward and he hugged her.

He towered over her, having to lean down slightly just to rest his chin on the top of her head, and his arms were wrapped around her tightly. He was firm and strong and, strangely, Voisin had never felt so safe in her life. Her arms went around his waist and she leaned her head against his chest and they stood there as they both wanted this to last for eternities.

* * *

Voisin woke up slowly in Loki's arms. One was across her chest and the other was draped over her stomach. The feeling was unfamiliar, yet comforting. Without the fear she had lived with for the past few days every time she saw him, her heart was relaxed and even unprotected by the wall she had spent her entire life building. She sighed contently and snuggled down into his embrace.

"I have to go," he whispered.

Voisin turned over and put her palms on his chest. He raised himself on his elbow to look at her better and she noticed how lightly mussed his hair was. "Don't," she said, looking up into his blue eyes that seemed to have become clearer since last night. "Please, don't."

He blinked slowly. "I must."

"_Vous ne pouvez pas_. You can't. You know what will happen." Her voice broke as tears formed. "You just became so beautiful—do not mar yourself with the ugliness of war."

Loki kissed her forehead. "It is not a question of whether or not I win or lose. I must go because I made a vow to Thanos. And to Kleiser. If I break that promise to them, they can both end me in a heartbeat—but I know for a fact that they could decide to do much more. Whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. has in wait for me is undoubtedly a thousand times more pleasant than what Thanos—and Kleiser—have. I have no choice."

"Then take me with you," she said, fisting his shirt in her hand. "Let me help you."

"So you may fight against your own establishment?" he asked. "Absolutely not. Treason, no matter why it is done, is always a cowardly deed. I will not allow you to make such a sacrifice to your reputation for my own sake."

The tears fell. "Then what will _I_ do, Loki? Knowing you will never return?"

"I will tell S.H.I.E.L.D. where this base is located and they will find you. All that you need to do is tell them what happened: that I abducted you."

She searched his eyes and saw how serious he was being. He reached out and wiped a tear that had leaked from the corner of her eye. "Don't cry for me," he said as he pulled her closer and hugged her again.

"Then stay with me. For just a few moments longer," she mumbled into his chest.

Loki hesitated momentarily before sinking back down and holding her close. She felt how tense he was. Voisin didn't want him to go. All he was doing was throwing himself back into the brutal cycle of warfare after they had both so recently discovered how tender he could be. He would be under the brutal force of S.H.I.E.L.D., which she knew did not punish leniently. But she remembered what he'd said about Thanos and Kleiser. Loki _had_ to go. And she had no power to stop him.

Loki shifted in the small bed and then let go of her. After hours of such intimate contact with him, Voisin felt at a loss. But she sat up as he got out of bed and stood over her, watching her reaction. Voisin got up too.

"Loki, please be careful."

She saw something in his eyes that betrayed him. Still, he said, "Of course." He licked his lips and swallowed hard. "I will miss you dearly, Carline Voisin of Earth. I will never forget the things you taught me during the days we were together."

Voisin stood up on her tip toes and wound her arm around his neck. She brought his head lower and kissed his lips chastely. He responded just as gently as he snaked his hand into her hair. She traced the line of his lips with her tongue and he opened his mouth for her, turning the kiss into something deep and passionate. Voisin felt something stirring inside of her that was foreign without the influence of the Tesseract.

Loki broke the kiss.

"I must go." He planted his lips on her forehead and then removed her hand from around his neck. She bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything more.

Loki turned and walked to the door of her room.

"Wait."

He stopped. Voisin ran at him and hugged him fiercely, memorizing the way his torso curved and the way he smelled. Loki squeezed her affectionately. She let go, taking a step back and let her eyes rove over his body from head to toe. This was how she wanted to remember him. She saw tears forming in his eyes.

"Goodbye, Carline. I—" He stopped himself and did not to try finish what he'd had to say.

He stepped back and the bars were as if they weren't even there, allowing him to walk out of her room without trouble. Voisin went after him, but the iron rods placed in her doorway stopped her as they hadn't for Loki.

"Loki?" she cried as he walked away down the hall. He did not turn. "_Loki!_ Come back!" What was he going to say? She was frightened. "Don't go! _Please! _LOKI!"

But he did not stop. He didn't look back. With his head bowed, Loki kept on walking until he turned the corner and was out of Voisin's sight.

* * *

**PLEASE review! This story is about to get _intense_. Follow for an update when the next chapter is posted-it's going to be the best one yet.  
**


	7. Please

Voisin was a mess: tears were streaming from her eyes and she was cradling her right hand, bruised from hitting the wall over and over again in her despair. The skin was broken in some places and there were smears of blood on the wall. After Loki fixed the hole Barton had created, he must have taken an extra precautionary measure and reinforced the plaster with his magic.

Finally, after emotionally exhausting herself, she sat on the bed and hid her face behind trembling hands. Why was she doing this? Loki wasn't her concern. Or, at least, he _shouldn't_ be.

But he had been so beautiful—and so _sorry_ for all he had done; Loki never wanted to war with Earth. He was broken.

Voisin heard feet coming down the hallway and the sound brought an end to her thoughts. She ran to the bars in her doorway and wrapped her hands around them.

"Help me!" she called. "Take me to Loki. Please. I need to— _Dr. Selvig_?"

A man walked into her line of vision was wearing jeans and a plaid blue shirt. The color of his eyes matched his attire and they brought a stark quality to his pale face and appeared to darken the bags under his eyes. His hair was unkempt and he had several days' worth of stubble on his chin. In his hands was a big silver suitcase that looked heavy.

When he saw her, there was recognition in his features.

"Agent... Carolyn?" he asked, struggling to remember her name.

"Yes!" she cried happily. "It's me."

"Why aren't you fighting with Loki? That's where we're going." He lifted the metal suitcase. "We've got the Tesseract."

"Loki... forgot about me," Voisin said, desperately hoping they would just let her out. "I need to help him. Please, take me with you."

To her relief, Selvig nodded to the guards. One of the four of them stepped forward and took a small hand grenade out of his pocket. Voisin moved back immediately and went to crouch behind the cover of her bed. The explosion caused pieces of debris to go flying and a piece of sharp plaster nicked Voisin's cheek, scraping a thin line across her face as it flew by. Unbothered, she got up and was out of the room before the dust cleared.

"Thank you so much," she said to the doctor as they began walking.

"Of course. We'll need all the help we can get. But you can't go wearing that," Doctor Selvig said, motioning to her jeans and button up shirt. "Loki has weapons and outfits in the room that leads out to the helipad on top of Headquarters. We're headed that way now."

* * *

They were in a helicopter and Voisin was putting the weapons she'd borrowed from Loki's supply room into the correct pockets on her belt sewn into her catsuit. She had two guns, a knife, and a hand grenade that all found a place in the belt. Selvig was seated next to Voisin, holding the suitcase close to his chest. Voisin finished situating the weapons and then looked out of the open side of the helicopter to see Stark Tower coming nearer and nearer to them as the doctor tried explaining what his purpose with the Tesseract was.

"It's a portal," he shouted over the noise of the helicopter. "It's a portal that will bring the Chitauri from their realm to ours. The Tesseract will create a... huge hole in the sky, if you will, and two realms that should be millions upon millions of light years apart are suddenly only a few hundred feet from each other!" He was breathless with excitement. "It's incredible! The power she has... I wouldn't have thought it was possible a year ago. But she's given me insight—wisdom to _see_ what's hidden just beneath the surface..."

Now they were hovering about twenty-five feet over a cement walkway on the side of Stark Tower that was Tony Stark's personal Iron Man landing pad. Voisin knew this from when he was late to a meeting and he flew onto the deck as a revolving robot removed the Iron Man suit from his body, making a fashionable entrance but annoying Director Fury and causing Natasha Romanov to roll her eyes.

The pilot of the helicopter was shouting at them over the loudness of the helicopter blades. "You'll need to disembark using the rope ladder!"

Voisin saw that the ladder was in a pile in the corner of the aircraft. She got up from her seat carefully and threw it out the open side.

"I'll go first," Selvig said to Voisin as he started to move toward the edge.

"Do you want me to carry the Tesseract?"

His eyes flicked to her, wide and surprised she would even suggest such a thing. "No, I'll do it," he said quickly.

Voisin tried to hide the worry from her features. "All right," she said gently. "You can, then. I don't have a problem with that."

"I'm sorry, dear," he said, seeing his error. "It's just—I've spent all of these past few days with the Tesseract; I feel responsible for her. And if something were to happen to her—_it—_, I'd want the blame to fall entirely upon me." His cover up was nice, but Voisin could tell that his behavior had been influenced by overexposure to the mind-controlling alien technology.

Selvig started down the ladder and already the suitcase was serving to be a hindrance. Voisin wanted him down safely, but she wanted him down _now_. What was Loki doing, she wondered. She shook her head at herself.

Voisin moved over to the open side of the helicopter and crouched down to spot Doctor Selvig. She looked over the edge and found the doctor had only gone down six rungs. He was struggling with the suitcase. He stepped onto the next hold but slipped and Voisin jolted forward to help him, thrusting her arm out for him to grab onto. Selvig was able to steady himself, but the agent was still uneasy. She got as close to the edge as she could—and just in time, too.

Her hand was still outstretched and Selvig grabbed it, taking the agent by surprise and pulling her over the edge. For a brief moment, there was nothing solid under Voisin and she thought she was surely going to die. But she remembered that the ladder should be on her left. Still holding onto Selvig with her right hand, she reached out for the ladder with her other. She felt something brush her fingertips and then she took hold of a rung.

But that did not mean they were saved from certain peril.

Voisin's hand was slipping and Selvig was desperately trying to put his foot in one of the spots on the ladder, but his arms were entirely useless to this effort since one of his hands was holding Voisin's and the other was clutching the suitcase.

"Doctor, you need to let go of the case!" she shouted over the noise of the helicopter.

"No!" he yelled back fiercely. "I can't do that!"

"What's going on?" the pilot called to them. Voisin could barely hear him.

"Lower the helicopter!"

"What?"

"_Oh mon Dieu—_ Lower the helicopter!"

They descended slowly toward the curved cement path jutting out from Stark Tower. About ten feet of the ladder's length disappeared as it folded into itself when the bottom of it reached the ground.

"That's as low as I can safely go," the pilot yelled at them.

There was still a good fifteen feet of air between Voisin and the ground. "Jump, doctor!"

He looked down. He had been able to get a foothold on the ladder, but for some reason he thought that this meant he had bought them time to hang suspended in the air a good story from the closest solid structure that they could stand on. "It's too far!"

"Doctor Selvig, I cannot—" And that's when Voisin lost her grip on the ladder.

As they were falling, she caught a glimpse of Selvig holding the Tesseract to his chest. Voisin managed to land in a roll, but she went right to the edge of the cement path that was only five feet wide and nearly fell off. She gained enough momentum to roll the other way. Panting, she lay on her back for a moment, staring at the sky. Her hands were trembling and adrenaline was coursing through her veins.

Voisin sat up and looked over to Selvig who was on his back, the Tesseract still safely in his arms. The air had been knocked out of his lungs and he was wheezing as he began struggling to his feet. Voisin stood up and rolled her shoulders, making sure nothing was out of place.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes. I—I'm fine." He blinked and she saw his eyes did not seem as unnaturally blue as before. He looked around as if he didn't recognize where he was. Selvig's gaze found Voisin. "Carolyn?"

"Yes," she said carefully. "I'm Carolyn."

"What was I doing? What is this?" He turned to the suitcase he had set on the ground. He knelt down beside it and started walking to unlatch the container.

"No, wait!"

He stopped and turned to look at her. "What? What is it?"

"Um." This needed to happen. For Loki. It had to be done. "Nothing. I don't know."

He gave her an odd look and then seemed to shrug it off. Selvig went back to the suitcase and opened it. Voisin saw it was a glowing blue cube and she watched as Doctor Selvig's face went blank. He reached out to the thing and tendrils of the blue light ran down his arms and went to his chest, disappearing at a point that Voisin knew was where his heart sat. He blinked and his eyes were eerily blue once again. Voisin felt a moment of guilt, but it was gone as she remembered Loki. _This needed to happen. _

Doctor Selvig looked back at her and his gaze was chilling. "What are you doing here?" he snapped. "You need to go. You can't be around the Tesseract—she doesn't know you."

Voisin took a tentative step back. This was what she had been waiting for. This was her chance; she needed to find Loki. But still, she hesitated.

"Go! I don't need you here. I can do this on my own!"

Voisin took another step away, and then another. She tore her eyes from the doctor and ran inside of Stark Tower.

She found herself in the middle of some kind of living area. Lights turned on automatically.

"I sense human presence," a disembodied English voice said, robotic and unfeeling. Voisin froze. J.A.R.V.I.S. "Scanning for identification." Voisin cursed herself and her thoughtlessness. She should have—"Agent Carline Voisin," the computer said warmly as characteristics of human speech flowed into his tone. "Member of S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance level: seven. Welcome, agent. The last time you were in Stark Tower, you were attending a meeting conducted by Director Fury. It's been awhile. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I—no, J.A.R.V.I.S., thank you," she said to the program with relief. "Actually... can you direct me to the first floor? I need to get out of here."

"Of course, agent. Mr. Stark's private elevator is located to your left behind the purple curtains. You may take that to the first floor and the nearest exit should be through the first pair of doors you see and to your right."

She went over to the curtains and pushed them aside quickly, revealing elevator doors. Voisin pressed a button with an arrow pointing down and the door slid open easily. She stepped inside. "Thank you," Voisin said before the doors closed.

"My pleasure, agent."

It was maybe an entire three minutes before she arrived on the ground level. The elevator opened again and Voisin rushed out. She was in a small room and another set of doors was ahead of her. She pushed past them easily and then walked out to find she was in the main lobby of Stark Tower. A woman behind a large desk looked over at her, but upon seeing the catsuit Voisin wore, she averted her eyes respectfully and resumed typing.

A giant _boom_ shook the floor and people screamed or shouted, doubling over to maintain their center of gravity. Agent Voisin held her ground, looking outside when the shaking stopped. She ignored everyone else and ran out the huge glass double doors and looked up at the sky. A huge ray of the glowing blue Tesseract light was directed heavenward and it was tearing a hole in the sky. The blue was gone, replaced by a starry night scene that was so black it was almost purple.

What concerned Voisin was not that the atmosphere of the Earth was torn, but the black swarm that was coming out of the portal like a stream of insects. She gasped.

This must be the Chitauri army.

It was like the proverbial swarm of locusts, sent to Earth to spread famine and death. She watched them loom closer with the rest of the people on the street, but she tore her eyes from the approaching threat and looked around at the civilians. A sense of anxiety began to rise in her stomach. They were her responsibility; she was best equipped to get them to safety. God, what if she was unable to save them? What if she wasn't able to fight the aliens?

A laser gun high above Manhattan was aimed and a stream of high-power energy flew to the ground, creating a huge crack in the tar on the street and sending people screaming for cover.

Voisin's eyes focused back on the black cloud of the Chitauri. She seized up.

_She was at the front of the Augustin Bank, standing in front of the teller desks, waving her arms about and yelling at the people to exit the building. The men in suits clutching their checkbooks and their fountain pens were indignant and the woman with diamond jewelry on every available appendage had their red-painted lips pursed. _

_"S'il vous plaît!" she shouted at a particularly stubborn gentleman, _

_"Pourquoi?" he puffed. "I see no danger."_

_"Je suis Agent Carline Voisin," she hissed, flashing her rarely-used badge. "There are three men upstairs who are being held hostage by rogue members of the spy agency. The building must be cleared."_

_A gunshot. The second and third followed soon after. _

_"Get out!" she yelled as several women screamed. Voisin looked around and saw a man on the ground, his hand on his neck as blood flowed out of the wound. She saw two other bullet holes in his chest and his button up shirt was slowly staining red._

_Voisin ran over to him and pulled out her gun, standing in front of the body protectively and aiming her weapon in the direction she thought the gunman had fired from. She saw him standing over the marble railing on the second floor. His eyes met hers and he turned and ran. Voisin shot at him, but he was gone and the bullet collided uselessly into the stone wall, the impact creating a small cloud of white powder._

_She turned around to the injured man and saw him struggling to breathe. Voisin knelt down beside him and touched his arm. _

_"Agent!" She looked up. It was the head of her department. He strode across the empty floor to the body. He looked shocked by the man lying in his own lifeblood, but it disappeared when he looked at her again. "Agent, they have your father."_

Voisin was jerked out of her mind when streams of hot blue light began raining down on her and the people on the street, sending debris flying and car alarms blaring. She blinked, shaking off the cobwebs of the past, and jumped into action.

"Come on!" she yelled. She caught the arm of a frantic woman holding her purse over her head. Voisin pushed her toward the doors of Stark Tower. "Get inside!"

There was a continual zoom and revving of an engine, and an object was hurtling through the air at remarkable speeds, weaving between the tall buildings of Manhattan. The figure came nearer and she saw it was a Chitauri warrior. Soon, there were more and more of them, all flying above the streets. Some landed and began dismounting their extraterrestrial vehicles.

"Get inside!" Voisin shouted, now bordering on panic.

"What are those things?" a man running toward her asked.

"I don't know. Just find cover—get off the streets. You'll be better off if you do," she said, putting her hand on his back and directing him into Stark Tower.

Others were not as inclined to get to safety. They had their phones out and were filming the aliens. One of the Chitauri noticed this and aimed its gun at a man and blasted him fifty yards backward into a sizzling pile of broken bones and burning flesh to give the people with recording devices a proper show. Everyone screamed and ran while the alien warrior just laughed.

Voisin's eyes fell on a Chitauri that was making its way toward a car that had flipped over on its side. It was a small white car, and in it was a family that was frantically trying to escape, but couldn't get out. The agent pulled out her gun and fired at the alien. Its head snapped around to look at her and Voisin froze.

This was the first time she had really seen one of them in all of their glory. Back in Loki's council room, they had all been sitting behind desks or crouched on top of tables. Standing, this one was maybe over six and a half feet. Its face was skeletal and toothy, wearing a sinister grin that Voisin desperately wished she wasn't on the receiving end of right now. Its armor was scarce, but where the pieces of golden metal did not reach, Voisin saw a hard-looking exoskeleton that both fascinated and terrified her—mostly terrified, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.

The thing began approaching her and then, in a flash of red, white, and blue, it was toppled over and its gun flew out of its arms and slid over to Voisin. She picked up the heavy weapon and looked around and saw Steve Rogers—or rather, Captain America at this point in time. His shield flew black to him and he caught it on his arm out of the air. She gave him an appreciative look and he nodded, turning back to fighting off a group of maybe seven or more of the aliens.

The gun in her hands was shaped like a large assault rifle, but was much bigger and glowing with the alien technology. At the end was a sharp blade, like a bayonet, but the sharpened metal was intricately shaped and looked freshly polished.

Voisin looked up and saw that other Chitauri were drawing near. It couldn't be too difficult—all guns had the same basic operation system. She aimed the weapon and pulled the trigger. The kick was powerful enough to make Voisin take a step back and she knew that after a few more shots from this thing and she'd have a terribly bruised right shoulder in the morning.

Her aim had been off, but she'd nicked an alien in the side and he was raising his weapon to reciprocate the fire. Voisin fired again and the warrior flew backward. When it reached the ground, it gave a final twitch and stopped moving altogether.

Voisin ran and crouched behind an abandoned car and began shooting at the others who were advancing. There were four now. One of them sent a stream of energy her way and she ducked under the cover of the vehicle and it rocked back slightly when the deadly blast hit it. Voisin stood up quickly, aiming and firing in one smooth motion.

Three to go.

She crouched behind the car again as another shot was fired from the Chitauri. As she was turned around and went into a crouch, she saw that another one was coming near from the opposite direction and she shot it down easily. The Chitauri on the other side of the car fired again and it went through the windows of the car, shattering glass and sending shards of it flying all around. Voisin shook the pieces out of her hair and then raised her weapon. She rested the gun in the broken windows and began shooting at them again rapidly in a steady stream of short but continuous energy blasts. When she took her finger off the trigger, not a single one was standing.

Voisin looked around. The only aliens she saw were zooming around in the sky now. She stood up and ran past the felled soldiers and went to the flipped car that had the people inside. Through the windshield, she saw a man and woman in the front seats, and past them she saw a tipped car seat with a child still buckled into it in the back.

Nimbly, Voisin climbed onto the car and pulled on the door handle. It took all of her strength to get the door unlatched. She threw it open and helped the man climb out and then his wife. Voisin opened the back door and jumped inside, unbuckling the girl from her car seat. Voisin pulled herself up onto the outer side of the car again and lifted the girl up out of the wreckage.

"Anna?" the mother asked hysterically. "Anna, baby, are you all right?"

Voisin held her down to the father who took the girl in his arms. "Get to a shelter. Hide someplace safe," Voisin advised once they were reunited. The parents nodded, grateful, and went into Stark Tower where a door was being held open and others were beckoning them inside.

Voisin, still standing on top of the car, looked around. The streets had cleared out quickly. She looked back to the end of the block where she'd seen the Captain fighting, but he was gone, too.

And then, a high-pitched scream rang through the empty streets. Voisin jumped down from her perch and ran toward the sound. Around the corner, a group of six Chitauri were pushing a woman into an already crowded bank where people inside were trying to keep the doors closed to them.

"Hey!" Voisin called loudly. The struggle stopped as all eyes fell on her. Behind her, a piece of rubble shifted and Voisin twisted around and jumped away, avoiding the sneak attack. Another Chitauri was standing behind her and made a leap at her.

She rolled out of the way and the creature was too large to control his movements in midair. Before it hit the ground, Voisin was crouched and had her firing pistol in her hand and aimed at its unarmored stomach. She shot at it and black blood spurted out of the hole, spattering her face and getting in her hair. Voisin spit out what had gotten in her mouth and moved to where it was on the ground hissing at her in pain.

In a flash, it discarded its ruse of being hurt and stood up, but Agent Voisin was quick to react. The bladed end of the Chitauri's gun caught her left shoulder as she jumped away and she stumbled backward, clutching at her wounded arm as blood gushed from between her fingers. Voisin, all mercy lost, raised her own gun at it steadily and shot the thing right between its dark eyes.

Instead of dying immediately, it howled in anguish. The others at the entrance to the bank shoved the woman aside and began sprinting toward Voisin who dodged energy blasts and rolled behind an empty taxi as she ignored the sting in her arm.

She had only seconds to think. There were five of them now, maybe six if the one she had injured could fight. She had two knives, two guns, and a hand grenade. Voisin pulled the grenade out of its pocket on her belt just as the chitauri came around to where she was kneeling behind the car. She ripped out the pin and dropped it were they were standing. She fell flat on her stomach, pulling herself under the cab and coming out on the other side. She started to get up to run, but the grenade exploded and threw the car over her head, clearing her entirely and flipping it in a complete circle before it landed on its remaining three tires.

Voisin felt flames lick at her back and her arms and legs. Then the heat dissipated and all that was left was burning pieces of tires and several Chitauri bodies strewn around on the concrete. She rose on her feet and could smell burning rubber and her singed hair. Her right calf was screaming at her for attention and Voisin looked around to find that part of her catsuit had burned away and shiny red flesh was showing through the hole.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door to the bank was still cracked open. A man's head was poking out and was watching her intently until his eyes widened and he pointed at her. "Behind you!"

But it was too late and a sharp blade was sinking into her back, just missing her spinal cord, but certainly puncturing several internal organs and coming out of the front of her body. Voisin watched the tip of the sharp weapon peek out of her stomach in a detached wonderment. _Was that really her blood on the glinting silver?_ It almost seemed like the blade would never stop moving outward, but then it started to retract. The pain began once the weapon left her body and it was excruciating.

Her hands desperately tried to staunch the wound, but the blood flow was too heavy and too dark. This was different from the cut in her arm. This was fatal. The ground met her knees roughly and the jolt made her gasp as pain shot through her entire body, causing her mind to go momentarily blank.

The Chitauri who had stabbed her came around to her front. This one was wearing a large helmet on his head that she'd seen on none of the others. Wait—no... that _face_.

"Ah, it is the liar's plaything." _Kleiser_. "A pity your wound is so large; you may have been a useful asset when controlling the so-called god."

Voisin sneered up at him and spat in the dirt at his feet. It caught her off guard to see it was a mix of saliva and blood.

Kleiser threw back his head in laughter and it was a dark, twisted sound. "I will allow you your final act of defiance, human. I would end you, but it seems you have only very little time left." He put his foot on Voisin's chest and pushed her to the ground. She screamed in pain, nearly drowning out the sound of his laughter as the leader of the Chitauri walked to an abandoned alien vehicle and rose into the sky then zoomed away.

Voisin was breathing heavily in an effort to remain conscious. She struggled to sit up. Voisin saw the door of the bank open again.

"No!" she shouted at them, her voice breaking from the exhaustion that swept over her. "Stay inside."

The man who had tried to warn her about Kleiser was so daring as to completely remove himself from the safety the building provided and Voisin practically roared, "_No!_" He froze. "Get back," she panted. "You will _not_ risk your life for the sake of mine, or so help me, I will kill you myself." She pulled her second gun out of its holster for effect, cocking the weapon threateningly. The man went back into the bank. She let the gun drop to her side.

Voisin began crawling to the cab again. She was really just dragging herself along the street, though, pulling herself through rubble and dust and leaving a dark red trail as she did. She was spitting up blood now, choking on the hot liquid every time she had to breathe. Blinking away dark spots from her vision, she positioned herself against the taxi.

This was the end. _Elle temps de mourir._

Voisin was so tired. She just hoped that Loki would be all right. Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. would forgive her. Maybe Loki would suffer through his punishment from Fury and be able to return to Asgard. And maybe, just maybe, he would strive for goodness and accept love from his family that he always thought was missing.

Vaguely, she heard the crunching of plaster and crushed cement under the soles of boots. Voisin closed her eyes and let her head fall to the side. Whatever was going to happen next was no longer her concern. She was going to be dead soon.

A cool hand with long fingers touched her cheek with startling tenderness and she stirred. Who was doing that? Her eyes opened a fraction and she saw the telltale emerald green cape and shiny gold breastplate. Of course. Who else could it have been?

"Carline?"

"Loki?" Her voice was thick with blood and she coughed. Droplets flew out of her mouth and she winced in pain. She tried to wipe the blood from her lips, but it just smeared across the back of her hand.

His voice was surprisingly soft. "I thought you dead."

"You should be fighting. Go," she said, "win your war."

"I am too tired," he said. Something in his tone made her want to reach out and touch his face, but she was too weak. Loki knelt down beside her. "Let me heal you."

As he was reaching out, Voisin felt a gust of wind on her face and Loki was flying backward and crashed into a building. Her eyes couldn't follow him as fast as he was going, but when Loki came to a stop, she saw that Mjölnir—Thor's hammer—was resting on top of Loki, rendering him immobile. "Did he harm you?"

Voisin looked up and Thor was standing in front of her, watching his brother intently. "No," she said, her voice fading. "No, I—" But he stopped listening and his red cape billowed out behind him as he made his way to Loki.

"Thor," Loki said quickly, trying to lift the hammer off his body. "Please, let me up. I can heal her."

"Enough of your games, brother," Thor said, his voice full of venom.

As he stopped in front of Loki, other Avengers assembled behind him. Iron Man landed beside the God of Thunder, and next to Iron Man was Captain America. The Black Widow jumped out of the sky from seemingly nowhere and Hawk Eye followed soon after. Crumbling cement and the quaking steps of a giant told Voisin that the Hulk was probably not far behind.

"Remove this from me," Loki hissed. "I need to go to her." The superheroes were blocking Voisin's view of him.

"To whom?" Thor asked. "The mortal?" He sounded confused.

"_Yes_," Loki shouted, frustrated. Her vision was starting to blur and her breathing was slowing down. "Thor, _curse_ _you_, let me up! _I demand you release me so that I may heal her!_"

Before anything else happened, Voisin found that she could hold on no longer and so then gave in to the blackness that swaddled her into unconsciousness like a tender mother.

* * *

**This is where the alternative ending comes into play (obviously). Also, sorry if I got any details about the movie wrong!**

**Reviews are _always_ welcome!**


	8. Trapped

Voisin emerged from her comforting sleep slowly. It was bright in here, wherever she was. Everything was stark white. Voisin sat up and looked around. She was lying on a hard surface that was jutting out of a pristine white wall. Chains were bolted into the wall and connected to the two corners of the plastic piece, ensuring the stability of the thing. It was a bench, she realized. In the corner of her room was a speaker. To her left was a huge window with glass an inch thick, serving as another wall.

She knew where she was. She was in a maximum security cell in the depths of S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ.

Voisin stood up. Suddenly remembering her fatal injury, she looked down to where the wound was. Nothing was there. Just a hole in the cat suit where the knife had gone through. She looked out of her cell and beyond the window was a narrow corridor with linoleum tiles that were also an unstained white. On the other side of the hallway was a cell identical to the one she was in. Inside, a man with jet black hair and green and gold armor sat on his own bench with his head in his hands.

"Loki?"

She hadn't expected him to hear her, but his head jerked up and he looked over at her. Their eyes met. He rushed to the glass and put his hand to it.

"Carline."

His voice came through the speakers in her cell. S.H.I.E.L.D. must have given them permission to communicate.

"What happened?" she asked as she went to the glass and stood right across from Loki.

He shook his head, pointing to the speakers in his own cell. "S.H.I.E.L.D. can no doubt hear us. They're listening in."

"Let them."

Loki's hand fell from the glass. He sat down cross-legged and Voisin did the same. He was quiet for a minute. Softly, he asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she answered. "And you?"

"Is 'okay' Midgardian jargon for 'not all right at all'?"

Voisin laughed humorlessly. "Usually."

"Then I am 'okay' as well."

They sat in stillness as a minute passed between them.

"What happened?" Voisin asked, her voice coming out loud against the silence.

Loki picked at a spot on his leather pants as he spoke. "I healed you. I put you into a deep sleep so that you had the opportunity to recover fully before S.H.I.E.L.D. began pestering you. I was questioned. I have no doubt that you will be questioned just the same in the next hour or so. You have been unconscious for the past day."

Voisin tried to come up with something to say. To thank him for saving her life. Unfortunately, 'thank you' didn't seem like it would be enough, but before she could think of anything sufficient, they heard echoing footsteps coming down the hall. Both Voisin and Loki stood up and backed away from the large window, however Loki made his movements much more natural and less hasty than Voisin's.

A small woman appeared from Voisin's right. She had long brown hair and a S.H.I.E.L.D. lab coat over relatively plain clothing. Her face was set into a mask of determination. It was Doctor Foster. Voisin had seen her a few times before at meetings involving the Avengers Initiative, but for the past few months, she had been in New Mexico.

"Loki," she said. "My name is Dr. Jane Foster—"

"Well, if it isn't my brother's pet," Loki said with a smiling sneer. Voisin was surprised by his abrupt change. "How kind of you to debase yourself so far as to come visit me in my... temporary residence."

She seemed taken off guard by his willingness to talk, maybe even by him knowing who she was. Jane Foster cleared her throat, steeling herself, apparently, and went on. "I've put an energy field around your cell that _should_ negate the energy of your magic. Thor described your powers to me and I—"

"Why are you here, doctor?" Loki asked, sounding simultaneously bored and irritated by her presence. "Did you come here to gloat? To brag? To tell me in person how very _clever_ you are? Well, dear Jane, how certain are you that your little energy field will work?" His voice was becoming dangerously quiet. "How _positive_ can you be that this will hold me?" He took several prowling steps forward and Jane matched them as she retreated. "Yes, you will do well to fear me. I can make your life a nightmare even with my _precious_ brother by your side."

"Loki, stop," Voisin couldn't help but say.

Foster and Loki turned to stare at Voisin. The doctor's gaze was calculating and Loki's was one of surprise. He backed off, stepping away from Jane and clasping his arms behind his back. Doctor Foster turned back to Loki after appraising Voisin, probably not finding anything worth commenting on at the moment. Foster watched Loki for a long, silent minute as he smirked back at her as if he wasn't bothered by anything going on.

"How can you stand yourself?" she asked, dropping her mask of professionalism that Voisin hadn't known she'd put on when she entered. "How can you live with all that you've done?" Her voice grew louder with each accusation she threw at the god. "You abandoned Thor. You abandoned _your family_, and then you—"

"_They_ abandoned _me_!" Loki roared, furious. His hands were no longer behind his back in self-restraint. He was pointing behind him as if perhaps just beyond the wall of his cell was his Asgardian family so he could show Foster who really was to blame. "I care not what twisted words your _beloved_ Thor has seduced you with, but I will not stand to hear my story—my own _past—_relayed back to me by a mere mortal who heard the entire thing from the favored son. You know nothing, Jane Foster, and it would behoove you to act as such."

Foster was speechless. She turned to walk away, pushing hair behind her ear angrily. Before she left, she looked back at him with passionate tears in her eyes. "Screw you." Her footsteps echoed down the hall as she walked away.

Voisin looked at Loki. His hands were behind his back again and he was pacing restlessly. His dark green cape swished behind him regally as he walked. His breathing was heavy and his head was down as he muttered incomprehensible words under his breath. Loki stopped without warning and looked up at the speaker in his cell. He pushed back a lock of dark hair that had fallen into his eyes.

"Thor, I know you're listening. Come speak with me face-to-face. And I want this to be a _private_ discussion. Just you and me, Thunderer."

Silence rang through the rooms and Voisin and Loki lived the next two minutes in anticipation. And then, footsteps. These were much louder than Jane's had been. These were confident and sure. They were the footfalls of Thor.

"What do you want, brother?" he asked in a booming voice before he even came into view.

He was wearing regular clothes: jeans and a white T-shirt. Voisin couldn't help but gape at his appearance; she'd never seen him dressed so _normally_. Loki smiled hugely when Thor became visible, shedding the anger he had displayed when Foster was talking to him.

"I want to discuss your human," Loki said coolly.

"Jane," Thor said, correcting Loki's vague address of her. "I also wish to speak of her with you."

The two of them remained quiet, both staring into one another's eyes; dark hatred into hopeless love.

"Oh well, I'm waiting for you to begin," Loki whispered dangerously with a malicious glint in his eyes. "Is that not common for the firstborn to always be put ahead of everyone else? But then again, I would not know, since I was never _really_ the younger."

Thor was wounded by the quip. "You did call me brother once," Thor said sadly. "You and I had not been so different."

Voisin saw the look in Thor's eyes. The dead sense of belief was plain on his face. Loki's isolation of himself from Thor must have hurt him beyond words. She felt a pang of sympathy for Thor.

Loki rolled his eyes, shrugging it off easily. "If you think your charm will lull me into trusting every word you speak, it will not. I am not some Midgardian sl—"

"Stop right there, Loki," Thor warned, his finger pointing at the man in green behind the glass threateningly. His sadness was gone and he had straightened up as he filled with protectiveness and anger. "You will never call Jane anything other than her name given to her at birth. You will speak to her with respect—"

"What has she done to earn my respect? Listen to your emotional tales of a brother lost because of his own madness? A story where _you_ are the victim? Something you can tell with your large blue eyes as a tear falls pitifully?" His hands balled into fists and he slammed them against the glass. "_I was used!_" Loki snarled, his shout causing Voisin's hair to raise on the back of her neck.

"I know. Loki—brother—I _know_. Father never wanted you to find out the way you did." Contrasting to his brother's raging volume, Thor's tone was softer.

"And how else would I have come to the realization that I was not of Asgard?" Loki snarled. "When I was carted off to Jötunheim in the form of a _peace treaty_?" Thor seemed to be at a loss for words. Voisin saw Loki's eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. "Get out of my sight," Loki hissed, his voice even despite the emotion he was undeniably feeling.

"Brother—"

"_GO!_"

Thor stayed a moment longer to gaze upon Loki, but he left before either one could say anything more. When he was gone, Loki sat down on his bench and hid his face behind his hands. Voisin knew he would not want to be bothered, so she sank to the floor and leaned her back against the wall, letting her head fall to the side to rest upon the glass of her cell.

They sat like that for a long time before they heard multiple people approaching. Voisin was too heartless to stand, but Loki got up swiftly and was pacing by the time the five guards arrived at Voisin's door accompanied by an upset Director Nick Fury. He stalked to the end of her cell in his sweeping black trench coat. He typed a string of numbers into a keypad and then removed his black leather glove to press his palm against a print-identifier that Voisin knew would only open to him and a select few others. A section of the glass slid aside and two of the five guards entered her cell. Voisin put her hands in the air, deciding it would be much easier if she just complied.

As she was being escorted out, Voisin caught the eye of Loki. His angry veneer fell away for an instant as he nodded at her supportively. She was shoved forward before she could do anything else.

"Well, Agent Carolyn," Fury said, walking in front of her and the guards, "as you can tell, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't too damn thrilled by you at the moment."

* * *

Voisin was in cuffs and the chain that linked her two wrists together was bolted to a metal hook on the top of a table. She was in a relatively normal-looking investigation room with the one-way mirror and the single table in the center. But Voisin knew that there were guns in hidden cavities along the wall, all cocked and aimed at her should she decide to become dangerous. How strange it was to be on the other end of the questioning procedure.

She was alone in the room, seated facing the one-way mirror and she caught sight of her reflection before she could look away. She didn't look as though she had almost died just twenty-four hours ago, but she'd definitely had better days. Voisin knew that Fury was on the other side of the glass watching her intently, trying to make her squirm. Fortunately, Voisin knew that this process would look like, so she remained still and focused her eyes on the top of the chair across the table from her.

She had been waiting for maybe ten minutes when Fury opened the door and walked in pulling a cart with a television on the top shelf with a DVD player attached. Voisin stared at it. What was the point of that being in here? Fury sat down and brought the TV close so he could operate it from his seat. He turned it on and pressed a button on the DVD player. A familiar scene showed up on the screen.

It was security footage of Voisin seeing Loki for the first time.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is under the impression that Loki kidnapped you from our base," Fury said as Voisin stared at the screen intently. That was her firing her gun at him as he made his way toward her. And then he was disappearing, but Voisin found that he had not actually ever been there. He had been standing behind her the whole time while a duplicate of himself distracted her. He was threatening her and then threw her into the wall. He tried using his staff to put her under the control of the Tesseract, but Voisin fell unconscious and then Loki threw her over his shoulder and walked out of the screen.

The view cut to the next hallway he strode down with Voisin over his shoulder. Then the next. Then he was in a crowded hallway and blasted everyone back with the power from his scepter. He went over to two men and touched the tip of his blade to their hearts and took control of their minds.

Voisin watched as he used them to take him to the Tesseract in the very bottom of S.H.I.E.L.D. But the part where Loki reached the last floor of S.H.I.E.L.D. base wasn't recorded because the basement had top secret projects in it that not even the heads in Washington knew about.

"That's where Selvig finally went nuts," Fury said as the TV screen was filled with gray static. "Apparently, Loki had the guy under his thumb for a few months before all of this went down. The doc shot me in my leg and then Loki pointed his light saber version two-point-oh at me and tossed me into the wall," the Director said bitterly. "He escaped with you and Dr. Selvig. So, the obvious question that all of us asked ourselves is _why_? Why just you and the doc?"

Voisin's jaw clenched. She saw what they were doing—they were pigeonholing her. Either she had been brainwashed by Loki prior to being kidnapped by him, or she willingly worked with him. "Director," she said indignantly, "you saw him overpower me. I was not working with Loki. I had never seen him before—"

Fury slammed his hands on the desk. "Then _why_," he fumed, "do Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig contend that you assisted him during your stay at his headquarters?"

Voisin gaped, at a loss for words. Of course, Barton had suspected her collaboration with Loki toward the end. And she had gone with Selvig on the helicopter to Stark Tower under the pretense of helping Loki.

"What did they say?" Voisin asked, dumbly.

"It doesn't _matter _what they said," the Director snarled. "The fact is that you have two of the most _trustworthy_ _motherfuckers_ in this business saying that you. Were helping. _Loki_."

Voisin looked at her cuffed wrists blankly.

"What?" Fury asked after a long moment of silence. "Aren't you going to defend yourself at all? I'm interested in what someone who so easily turns on their own has to say."

She had nothing to say. What _could_ she say? She furrowed her brows in concentration as she kept her eyes on the chain links of her handcuffs. She wanted to cry for some reason. How could she possibly explain herself to Fury? She knew him—he would never understand. In fact, she didn't think anyone would.

"I cannot explain my actions, sir."

Fury pushed away from the table and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "_Dammit_, Carolyn, I don't want to have to do this to you; you were a good agent. But if you ever posed a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D. while you were with Loki, you'll have to be punished for it."

"I—... understand, sir." She was dead. Voisin knew that Barton could say some things about her, but those could be explained... couldn't they? How much had Loki given away? A large majority of it depended on what Selvig remembered—like her letting him fall victim to the Tesseract again after he'd been knocked out of it.

_Shit._

She wished she had just died in the street.

Fury was standing with his back to her, perhaps out of disgust for what she'd done. "I'm going to get official statements from Barton and Selvig. You're going back to your cell in the meantime. Just cooperate and nobody gets hurt."

Voisin was escorted back with guards on all sides of her like she was some kind of time bomb. Loki was pacing when she saw him. He stopped to watch as she was pushed into her room.

She stood facing the back wall for a moment without any idea what to do. When she heard the guards leave, she finally sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face in her arms. Two huge tears rolled out of her eyes, and more followed before she could stop them. She choked on a sob.

"Carline?" Loki asked, concern rising in his voice. "Did they hurt you?"

She didn't answer him. She didn't want to talk to him right now. Instead, Voisin held herself tight and let her tears fall freely.

* * *

That night, Voisin had terrible nightmares.

She dreamed of the Chitauri and Selvig's blue eyes. She dreamed of the Tesseract and had a quick vision of accidentally misfiring the alien weapon at a group of bystanders. But the worst thing that she dreamed was her father's death.

_She was in a small cage that she could only crouch in. It would have normally served as a kennel for a large dog, she thought, but the multiple padlocks and chains on the door gave away its true purpose. Voisin felt as if the walls were collapsing in on her, shrinking around her body and constricting her motions. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Agent Barton in a similar cage and, even though he took up more space, he looked much calmer that Voisin felt._

_"Just breathe," he reminded her gently. But that became difficult when their kidnappers walked into the room, holding a man bound in ropes. _

_When he was taken, he had been wearing a pinstripe suit. Now, the jacket was gone and his tie was loosened around his neck. His shirt was blood-spattered and untucked. The pants had a tear in the knee and the shoes that had been shiny were now scuffed and dirtied. _

_They pushed him to the floor. Looking past the bruises and cuts and dried blood on his face, Voisin recognized her father._

_"Père!" Voisin cried. She pushed to the front of her cage and held on to the bars._

_He peered up at her with sad, dark eyes, and then a gun went off. In the next moment, her father was lying on the floor with blood flowing out of his head from a bullet-sized hole above his right eyebrow._

"Carline! Carline, wake up!"

She woke with a gasp, opening her eyes to find her face wet with tears. She took in her surroundings and couldn't control the sob that left her when she recalled she was being held in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prison. She was pressed up against the side of the plastic bench in her cell, the edge digging into her head sharply.

"It was a dream." That was Loki. "Nothing more."

Voisin looked out of the glass wall into his cell. His hands were pressed to the window and he looked worried. She wiped her eyes, frustrated at how easily her emotions were getting the best of her, but the tears continued without any promise of stopping soon.

"What's going to happen?" she asked like a lost child.

He, finally, seemed unable to speak. "I... don't know."

A door was flung open and armed guards shuffled into view. They stood outside of Loki's cage, awaiting orders from the owner of the last pair of footsteps that were idly making their way down the hall. It was Natasha Romanov, otherwise known as the Black Widow. She was wearing her S.H.I.E.L.D. cat suit and a holster where a firing pistol rested within. She glared at Loki.

"Loki Laufeyson," she said, punching a code in the keypad next to Loki's cell and then pressing her hand onto the print-identifier. "You owe me a long talk."

His face was twisted into a scowl, his eyes narrowed at the redhead. "How nice to finally met you, Agent Romanov," he said, his pleasant words not matching his dangerous expression. "I have heard _much _about you."

The door to his cell opened and Loki didn't resist the two guards that ran in and gripped either of his arms. He was led out, and Voisin watched with teary eyes as he walked away. He sent her a sidelong glance as he passed and Voisin thought for a moment that he looked nervous. But it couldn't have been.

* * *

It felt as though Loki was gone for hours. Voisin reached a point where she couldn't sit any longer and she stood up to pace around in her cell. The sound of him returning sent her to the glass to watch as he was pushed back into his own confinement. Nick Fury was accompanying Loki instead of Agent Romanov this time and once Loki was safely in his cell, Fury began opening Voisin's.

The guards took her arms and their hold was stronger than she remembered. She flinched in their grip, but they only held on tighter. Voisin looked to Fury in order to read his face and she was met by a sad but solemn gaze. That look struck fear in her and she twisted around to see Loki standing in the corner of his cell, pressed against the glass in order to be as close to her as he could.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" she cried, allowing the guards to jerk her forward. To Fury, she shouted, "What are you doing? What's happening?" She was forced through the doors to the prison and Fury raised his voice over hers.

"Just cooperate," Fury said without looking back at Voisin. She halted, stopping her feet in their place for a moment before the guards shoved her into motion again. Where was the "and nobody gets hurt" that always followed that line? Almost every single time "just cooperate" left his mouth, they were followed by "and nobody gets hurt"—a promise of safety.

Where was that now?

"Director, please—"

"I am not your director anymore," he snapped. They reached the room Voisin had been dreading being taken to.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s torture room.

Voisin dug her heels into the ground and began fighting the guards. "No. No, please." She had heard stories about what happened in the torture room. S.H.I.E.L.D. could usually find someone's greatest weakness and turn it against them. Sometimes in the form of video footage that they forced the criminal to watch over and over until they broke, sometimes it was a fear and they were exposed to darkness, water, fire... S.H.I.E.L.D. was a fan of psychological torture and it showed when the victims were taken out of the room, spluttering and shaking from their experience inside.

Voisin had always wondered what would be waiting for her if she was ever in serious trouble with the agency. Now, she didn't want to find out, but she had an idea of what it was.

She tried twisting out of the men's grasps, but they held her tight. Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't like this any more than you do." He opened the door and a light switched on automatically. Inside, Voisin could see a dark titanium box that was sitting on top of a table. It was dark black and had holes in the top, large enough to let air in. The reason it was there became clear and Voisin's suspicion of what was in the room was confirmed.

They knew about her fear of claustrophobia and they were finally going to use it against her. All of those occasions when Fury had spared her the torment of getting herself into the kind of positions that would have been nightmarish to anyone with a fear of tight, small spaces just to have her biggest weakness used as a form of torture.

The guards on either side of Voisin used her moment of hesitation to move her through the doors and close them once they were all inside. They held her close again and Fury walked over to face her.

"Carline Voisin, you have been accused of betrayal against S.H.I.E.L.D. and against planet Earth. Convince Loki to agree to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s terms of his surrender and we'll consider dropping the charges and sending you somewhere else instead," he said. "All you have to do is get him to—"

"Surrender?" Voisin repeated, taken aback. "And when he says no?"

"Then we'll encourage you to try harder," Fury said meaningfully. Voisin's eyes darted to the contraption behind him. He nodded. "Exactly."

She tried backing away, but she was locked into place by the guards holding her there. "I can't make him do anything."

Fury seemed disappointed by her response. "Then we're going to have to ask you again—and this time, not as nicely." He motioned to the guards and they lifted Voisin into the air. She writhed and struggled, but their grip was unyielding.

They carried her over to the little metal box and stuffed her inside, none too gently. The edges of the box cut her skin in places where she thrashed. Using brute force, they managed to close the lid over her and Voisin immediately felt like she was losing air.

There was room for her to lie on her back and curl her legs up, but that was it. The lid of the box was a mere three or four inches away from the tip of her nose and she tried to lift off the cover, but it was useless and didn't move at all. The holes were about an inch wide, scattered across the top every few inches. They let streams of light in, but she could only see the white ceiling through them. She banged on the lid with her fists, but only scraped her knuckles on the holes and drew blood.

"Let me out," she whimpered, pitifully. "I don't like this. Please."

"Convince Loki to surrender," Fury's voice came from somewhere outside.

"I _can't_," she insisted.

She heard retreating footsteps. "Then we'll come back when you think you _can_."


	9. Negotiations

**This chapter contains mature content. (Happy days!)**

* * *

The walls kept getting too close. It felt as if they were shrinking and shrinking, but never stopping and never reaching the point of strangling her completely. She having trouble breathing and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest so that it was painful. She was sweating and shaking and crying. Voisin was able to heave in a heavy breath, but not even that felt like a triumph. Death—or something just as awful—must be near.

She longed to stretch out her legs again, but there was the thought that maybe she would never have another chance to. Surely, she would die before she saw the sky once more. Voisin tried to close her eyes to perhaps picture herself elsewhere, but the moment she did, the darkness was complete and it was like the walls were smothering her. Her eyes flung open and she gave another fruitless effort to get the lid of the metal box open.

She didn't know how long she was in that box. It seemed that eternities passed before a door outside opened and feet approached. A lock clicked and the lid slid off, bright light stinging Voisin's eyes as it flooded into the small space she was in. She gasped her relief as cool air met her face and filled her lungs. Arms lifted her out of the box and set her on the ground. Voisin stood up unsteadily and the arms of the guards that had lifted her held onto her again, more for support rather than restraint.

Fury was standing before her with his arms clasped behind his back, his aura representative of a dark gray cloud. "Have you made up your mind?" he asked.

She watched him for a long minute, swallowing her pride and saying, "What are the terms?"

He shook his head at her. "_Goddammit_, Carolyn, it has _nothing_ to do with you! Since when did you become his personal negotiator?"

"_Just tell me the terms!_" Voisin shouted, finally losing her patience. The guards tightened their grip on her arms but she shook them off angrily and stepped toward Fury. She was so tired of being used, mistreated, and doubted. "Tell me the terms, Fury," she said darkly. The stress and anxiety that had come from being stuck in that damn box was wearing her thin.

Fury looked surprised by her outburst, but he collected himself and his snappy demeanor was back. "Well, if it were up to me, the motherfucker would be in jail for the next three hundred years and when he finally got out, I'd make him bake cakes for my great-great-great grand baby's fifth birthday. But it's been discussed, and others have agreed that it would be reasonable to hand Loki over to the Chitauri army that he royally pissed off."

Voisin shook her head. "No," she said firmly.

His jaw dropped and his face twisted up in incredulity. "_What?_"

"That can't be his punishment. You have no idea what that would lead to," she warned.

"And you do?"

"Yes," she said. "Loki's death."

"Well, that was what most of us were—"

She shook her head again and started pacing. "You don't understand. This is bigger than us—than _Earth_, even. This is about Loki's sanity."

Fury scoffed, dismissing her statement with his sound of disapproval. "How is the sanity of one man more important than the safety of a planet?"

Voisin turned on him. "You forget that Loki is a god. You saw what he did, Director," she said, not able to help herself. He didn't correct her, though, so she went on. "You saw what he did—all of Manhattan saw what he was capable of doing. That was him after leaving his family and then having Thanos plant ideas in his head. What do you think will happen once you give Loki back to the very thing that turned him against all forms of life? He'll have no hope left of redemption; it'll make him a thousand times more dangerous."

Fury looked skeptical and then even that was gone as he frowned. "I've heard enough. You'll be taken back to your cell for now."

The guards stepped forward and held onto her again, walking her toward the door. "Just listen to what I have to say!" she called over her shoulder while she was being shoved out the door.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Fury said, his hand touching his chin thoughtfully.

* * *

When Voisin was brought back, Loki stood up quickly and moved over to the glass and followed her as she was put in her cell. He took in his appearance and immediately looked concerned.

"What did they do to you?" he asked, his eyes going to her bloody knuckles.

Voisin looked down at her hands, remembering what had happened. She had almost forgotten. How could she just forget she had been tortured? Her hands went to her disheveled hair and tried to smooth it.

"Nothing," she said quickly, trying not to recall the experience in detail. Just thinking about it was making her hands sweaty and shake slightly. His face was imploring, so she elaborated, "They played on my fear of small spaces."

He cursed loudly. "How _dare_ they. You're one of their own!" He stalked to the other side of his room and then turned around and traversed the floor again with angry steps, his hands curled into fists as he paced angrily. He seemed to remember himself, though, because he stopped and looked up at her again. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine now. I don't want to linger on it."

He nodded stiffly. "Understandable, of course."

She sat down on the left side of her cell, resting her back against the side wall and stretching out her legs along the bottom of the window. She let her head fall back with a light _thump_ on the wall. Loki sat down on his bench that was on the right so they could see each other's faces without having to turn their heads.

"Why did they come to me?" she asked. "How did they know?"

Loki shifted in his seat. "My actions must have betrayed me," he said. "Natasha Romanov threatened you and I reacted without thinking." It was quiet. "I am, of course, very sorry," he said. The words sounded strange coming from him.

"Don't be. I suppose something like this would have happened eventually. Spies either die of old age or are jeopardized. Very few can maintain their jobs for more than thirty years."

He studied her. "And how long have you been working as an operative?"

She smiled reminiscently. "All my life, actually."

"So it does not bother you that I have ruined your livelihood?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

Voisin shrugged gracelessly. "A little, I suppose. But it could have been much worse."

Loki stared at her for the longest time before throwing his head back and laughing. She watched him, entirely confused. Shocked, really. She had never heard a noise like that from him. Yes, during their diner after drinking glasses of wine she had witnessed something similar, but certainly nothing as profound.

"You are very... different, Carline," he said after he finished making a spectacle of himself. "Different, indeed..." He trailed off and they lapsed into silence, both thinking of different things.

She was thinking about Loki, imagining what he had been like before he'd become so full of rage. _You did call me brother once_, Thor had said. Maybe they had played together as children. Had they ever been children? Little boys who ran through Asgard as royal princes without fear of getting in trouble? She would be willing to bet that they were absolute terrors for their mother.

"Do you miss it?" she asked him. "Asgard." Her eyes flickered over to him and she watched as his smile fell away.

Loki sighed and the sound was heavy with memories and unspoken words. "Yes. Greatly," he admitted. "But nothing will ever be the same again."

"So what will you do?"

"I do not know. Much of my future is unknown to me, now especially." He looked to her. "And you, agent?"

She was hit by the sudden weight of the question. She had no idea. Even if this did become past, she was sure that the best case scenario of this was her being relocated under a new identity to become a regular citizen. She'd probably never be allowed to work in espionage again. "No clue," she said, finally. "It doesn't seem like I'll have much of a say if I get out of here."

"Do you have family?"

She accidentally met his eyes and looked away quickly. "No. My mother died from postpartum psychosis."

"What?"

"She became incredibly sad once I was born and stopped eating. My father was never home—he was a spy too. Once she died, I my father took care of me and I was raised in the headquarters of France's largest spy agency."

"I'm... sorry to hear that." Again, the words sounded clumsy and foolish when he said it, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless.

They were quiet until Voisin said, "Your brother loves you, you know."

He scrubbed at his face with his hands and slouched against the wall. "I do. It's foolish."

"What's so foolish about it?" she asked. "He doesn't want to fight anymore, I can tell."

He frowned. "Well, it's too late. I've started this and I will decide what terms to end it on," Loki said bitterly.

Voisin felt irritation take her over. "Yes, but you can't end it." He looked at her, surprised by her words. Voisin stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You've passed the point of being able to stop your feud," she said before she could stop herself.

He rose to his feet as well. "I do not understand what it is you're saying, agent." In his tone was an unspoken warning, but she ignored it.

"You tried to take over Earth so you could prove yourself to your family," she said with conviction. "Whether you've realized this yet or not doesn't matter—but _I_ have. Before you say that I don't know anything, let me tell you, I know that you didn't accept your family's love because you didn't think you deserved it. You sought _purpose_, something that would show them how great you _truly_ are, and found such purpose in taking over Earth."

He opened his mouth to speak, but Voisin cut him off. "No, let me finish." He looked angry, but Voisin wasn't bothered. "You owe me this, Laufeyson," she said, addressing him like how she used to before... everything. That effectively cut him off and she continued. "I've been thinking about this for a while actually, and seeing Thor again finally made it all click in my head." She was speaking with more passion than she had felt in a long time, and she would not let Loki stop her from saying what she was thinking.

"From what I've heard from your brother, I understand that your parents were less than pleased by your endeavors to win their affection. Certainly, they didn't appreciate what it was you were doing—and never _could_. What you had done was, quite frankly, _evil_ and so you were only pushing them further away. It seems as if you realized this at some point and knew it was a lost cause, but somewhere deep inside of you, you still wanted their approval.

"And, even now, you're isolating yourself from Thor's attempts to show you how much he cares. _You_ can't end this anymore; you have no power over them because you've removed yourself _so_ completely." He had turned away at some point and was sitting on his bench again, but sitting sideways with his back to her and leaning his frame against the wall. One leg was stretched out and the other was pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around it. He made no sign of having heard the end of his guilty sentence. "I'm sorry, Loki, but you needed to hear it."

He didn't respond.

"Please say something." It would be an understatement to say that she wished she hadn't even said anything.

Nothing.

She sighed and sat down on her own bench as tiredness and regret swept through her body. It had been a long day.

* * *

Voisin slowly awoke to nimble fingers massaging her temple. She opened her eyes slowly and wasn't greeted by the harsh white light of her cell like she had been expecting, but a warm orange glow of firelight. Voisin looked around. She was in a large room that looked like it may have been situated in a castle. There was a fireplace that was radiating heat that calmed her thoughts and made her less uneasy about the strange environment. Lit torches were bolted to the stone walls. Furs were draped over several places throughout the room—on the backs of armchairs, on the floor before the fireplace, and some hung on the walls. A bookcase that ran the length of an entire wall was stuffed with the written word and other odds and ends such as quills and scraps of paper and chains and pieces of fabrics. Lastly, she realized that she was in a huge bed, nestled in between the legs of a man and leaning back on his chest.

This must be some kind of dream, because never in her life had she felt such tranquility. She looked up slowly, not feeling the tenseness in her muscles as she would have normally, and met the eyes of Loki Laufeyson. Except now they were a dark green instead of light blue. Strange.

"Welcome to Asgard," he said with a light smile.

She furrowed her brows at him. "Asgard?"

"Yes, you're dreaming of it. Well, really it's _my_ dream that I brought you to, but— _technicalities_," he said with a delicate shrug.

Voisin sat up, turning around and crossing her legs, but remaining within the space of his long legs. She looked up at him, watching the light of the flames dance across his face fondly. "You what?"

"I have the ability to... influence dreams."

"But Jane Foster put that energy field around your cell."

"Indeed, but that only prevented my powers from physically manifesting themselves beyond the walls of my cell. Mentally, I can do whatsoever I please."

"But this is just a dream?" she asked.

"Yes."

Voisin took a moment to adjust to the idea, and then turned back around to settle back into his arms, leaning against his chest and feeling him breathe. Maybe it was the fact that this was a dream world that made her feel so comfortable in his embrace, but she found it to be nice. He rested his chin atop her head as they both stared into the fire.

"Is this your room in Asgard?" she wondered, her eyes wandering to other places in the room. There was a desk in the corner with papers covering the surface. An old candle that had burned down to a stub long ago was resting on top of a pile of precariously stacked pieces of thick parchment. The back of the simple chair that was placed before the desk had a piece of black leather armor draped over it, as if it had been discarded and forgotten one day.

"Mmm-hmm," he said lazily as he began stroking her hair tenderly.

"It's very lovely," she appraised. "Very... otherworldly."

Her gaze returned to the fireplace and she watched the flames stretching toward the sky, following the paths of glowing embers that sometimes floated up after a pleasant crackle of the logs.

"You were right about me," he said. "So right that it scares me."

"You mean—"

"About my parents. About the reason behind my actions. About my brother."

"Loki, you don't have to—"

"No, I want you to hear this." She shifted herself so she could see his face. "I knew I had lost Earth the moment you resisted me. If all humans were as utterly determined as you were, then there was no hope for me. So I grew desperate, and in that desperation I did many things that I am not proud of. Things that you would be right to never forgive me for. And finally, when it all came crashing down and I knew my fate the day before the Chitauri came to Earth and before the Avengers superheroes came to fight me, I found something akin to succor in you.

"Then I learned how understanding you were. And I wondered if all humans had the same empathetic abilities as you. However, when we arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. base and I was surrounded by other humans, I found out that it was an uncommon characteristic that only you possessed, and I was enamored by it. By _you_.

"And then, again you surprised me when you were able to put into words what I had always wanted to—what I never _could_. And you were correct. I thought I hated you for it, but I cannot hate you for speaking the truth."

Voisin was so filled with emotion, she didn't know what to do. Laugh? Cry? She couldn't decide, so she did both as she reached up and wrapped her arms around Loki's neck and moved up to kiss him. This couldn't be a dream. The feeling of him was too powerful. And it felt so real when he parted his lips to give her access to his mouth. And all too real when she took him up on his unspoken offer to tangle their tongues together while their breaths intermingled and became one.

She broke away, panting. "And you say this is a dream?"

He grinned wickedly at her and pulled her close again. "A dream without limits."

His fingers curled in her hair and they resumed their heady kissing. It wasn't long before she was straddling him and her hands were against his chest and pressing him into the headboard of the bed. She rocked her hips against the hardness in his leather trousers and he growled into her mouth as he bit her bottom lip playfully. Voisin pulled his green tunic over his head and he unzipped the top of her catsuit, revealing her breasts that weren't constrained by a bra. She raised a brow at him.

He smirked back at her. "I have the majority of control over this realm," he said, his voice husky and having taken on a smoky undertone.

She stripped off the rest of her catsuit but found that she was still wearing her lacy undergarments. Loki tossed the discarded catsuit over the side of the bed and then flipped them around so she was pinned securely underneath him. He kissed his way down her neck and then paid careful attention to her breasts, massaging and sucking and nipping. She rolled her hips upward so that she rubbed against Loki's arousal and his mouth went on its way, licking a wet line down her belly and then reaching the top of her panties.

He hooked his fingers in the sides and then pulled them off easily, throwing them over the side to land on top of her catsuit. His mouth never left her, and now he was exploring her wet folds, spreading her wetness over her entire sex with his tongue, but maddeningly avoiding the most sensitive part of her. She bucked her hips in frustration and he laughed softly as he obliged.

His tongue swirled and lapped and stroked in all of the most perfect ways. Two fingers entered her sometime during the ministrations and he pumped them in and out expertly. She was beginning to see stars.

"Oh, Loki," she hissed just as her mind began to dissolve.

Her back arched and her hands fisted in the satin sheets as her climax took her completely. Waves of pleasure rolled trough her body and her eyes were shut tight as those stars exploded behind her closed eyelids. She writhed and mewled but then felt her senses returning to her. She fell onto her back again as she came down from her high, her hands unclenching from the blankets and her legs unwrapping themselves around him.

Loki crawled back over her and kissed her hard. She could taste herself on his lips. She reached between them and began untying the strings of his pants. Once they were undone, her hand slipped below the waistband and felt his stuff length. Loki moaned into her mouth. He broke the kiss so he could sit up and remove the pants and then climbed back over her. She began stroking him again, running her palm up and down his shaft and then wiping her thumb across the tip that was wet with his anticipation.

When she wrapped her fingers around him, he caught her hand and said through clenched teeth, "If you want me to last, you really should try to control yourself, darling."

Carline heard herself giggle and she brought her hand away from him. Loki's hand went down to hold himself at the base and guide his cock into her slick entrance. She took in a loud breath as he pushed into her slowly. When he was fully sheathed in her heat, he let out a hiss and began to rock within her. She gripped his sinewy arms as he created a steady rhythm. Loki bent down to capture her lips with his and she let him dominate the kiss, losing herself to the pleasure that was building within her.

"_Mon Dieu_," she cursed when his thrusts started coming faster.

He leaned back and grabbed her legs, throwing her knees over his shoulders which lifted her up so she was halfway off the bed. He was pumping into her madly, hitting a spot within her that was making her head spin. She closed her eyes as she whimpered and pulsed around him, her muscles tightening and milking him, making him grunt with his effort and passion.

She opened her eyes in time to see Loki throw his head back and his mouth fall open in a soundless groan as he shot his seed inside her.

After two more deep thrusts to ensure the deed was done, Loki collapsed next to her and took her in his arms. Voisin curled up into him. They were both breathing heavily. A lock of hair had fallen into his eyes and she pushed it back for him. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment and then rolled over onto his back, his arm supporting her head as she snuggled closer to him.

His cool hand traced a line from her collarbone to the valley of her breasts. He cupped one and then began toying with the nipple that immediately became pert at his touch. She made a content sound when he brought his head down to suckle a soft breast. Loki removed her arm from under her head so he could get a better position over her chest. She ran her fingers through his hair as he worshipped her breasts with his lips, tongue, and teeth.

After giving a nipple a light graze of his teeth, Loki sat up and wrapped his fingers around his length. He was stroking himself back to hardness and was watching her as he did so with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Carline couldn't have that, now.

She rose and sat in front of him, dipping her head down and moving his fingers aside. She moved her hair back and then pressed her lips onto the tip in the form of a light kiss. Loki raised his hips, demanding entrance, but she teased him, kissing the tip again and then following a vein that traced a path to the underside of his shaft. She licked a line back up, following the same vein. When she reached the head, her tongue flicked out to taste him.

"You're turning the little dream of mine into a nightmare," Loki said breathily.

He threaded his fingers into the back of her hair and she let him guide her mouth onto him. He exhaled heavily and then used his hand at the base of her neck to control her actions. She sucked him and used her hand to pump the part of him she was missing with her mouth. She took him by surprise when she went farther the next time and he loosened his rough hold of her hair and instead just ran his hands through it repeatedly. She took him back as far as she could, the tip of him pressing against the back of her throat. He moaned as she came off, her teeth gently scraping the underside of his shaft. She gave the head a swirl with her tongue and then Loki tore himself away from her.

She looked up, confused, but before either of them could say anything, he got off the bed and then lifted her up in his arms. He carried her over to his desk and then flung papers from its surface and replaced them with Voisin's naked form. She brought herself to the edge of the desk and folded her legs around his waist as he rubbed himself against her wet heat teasingly. She whined in need.

Loki pushed into her roughly, making her gasp at the suddenness of being filled. He continued his fast, frantic pace and pressed his forehead against hers, their mouths both open in silent cries of pleasure. Her arms went around his neck and held him close.

She felt the pleasure rising in her stomach, the mind-numbing feeling of an approaching orgasm as his hips snapped against hers. He was absolutely rutting into her—there was no pretense of tenderness. This was pure fucking and they both knew it.

He cursed. "I'm close."

A hand that had been holding her in an embrace left her back and reached between them to massage her clit. All she needed was that touch, that pressure there, and she threw her head back in a scream as powerful pleasure coursed throughout her entire body, making her shake and moan and pant. Loki was right there with her, spurting inside of her slick cunt and biting down on her collarbone as he came with a loud groan.

They both put their heads in the crook of each other's necks as they caught their breath. Once their breathing was less labored, Loki unsheathed himself and then picked up Voisin, bringing her back to the bed. He lifted up the sheets and she crawled under them. He joined her and held her in his arms as they fell asleep together in a lover's embrace.

* * *

Voisin was incredibly disappointed when she didn't wake up in Loki's bed. Instead, she was stretched out on the uncomfortable bench in her brightly lit cell in S.H.I.E.L.D. She threw her arm over her eyes, desperate to stay unconscious until she was released from here. Unfortunately, she knew that was impossible, so she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was expecting to feel exhausted after last night's... escapade. But she felt fully rested and awake.

Speaking of last night...

Loki was sitting on his bench as well, looking over at her with slightly mussed hair. Even though there was two panes of glass and maybe twelve feet between them, she felt the burn of his eyes and she blushed, but she couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face at the sight of him.

"Did you have a nice night, agent?" he asked with a sly grin.

She pretended to have to think about it. "Yes, I think I did," she replied with the same mischievous twist of her lips.

The doors to the holding rooms crashed open and a stressed Nick Fury stalked in without the usual guards. Voisin looked to Loki who shrugged, at a loss as well.

Fury swept over to her cell and opened it using the keypad and print-scanner. A section of the glass wall slid aside and he stepped in, taking a pair of handcuffs out of an inside pocket in his trench coat. He made the motion with his finger for her to turn around and she did, putting her hands behind her back obediently.

"What's going on, Director?" she asked.

"Don't call me that," he snapped and he clicked the metal contraptions onto her wrists. He grasped her under an arm and walked her out of her cell.

"What are you doing with her?" Loki demanded. His hand was placed on the glass above his head, his eyes were dark and dangerous.

Fury didn't seem bothered at all. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said wearily without looking at him as he pushed Voisin out of the room of cells.

* * *

She was paraded through HQ, tripping over her own two feet while struggling to keep up with Fury's long, deliberate strides. Workers they passed looked at them with wide eyes, but Fury didn't seem to see any of them. She tried twisting around to see his face.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"I made the mistake of telling the rest of the crew"—by 'crew,' Voisin was certain that he meant the Avengers—"about your idea for Loki's sentence. Most of them are against it, naturally. But hammerhead wants to hear you out." She guessed that was his newest nickname for the God of Thunder.

She was nervous because of Fury's negative energy, but also thrilled that she was going to be able to speak to them and maybe come to some kind of conclusion where Loki didn't end up in the hands of the Chitauri.

They were on the top floor of S.H.I.E.L.D. so they had to go down several flights of stairs in order to reach the conference rooms where Fury conducted most of his meetings. It appeared that they were going to be doing business in the first one today. Fury pushed past the double doors and let go of Voisin once the doors clicked shut behind them. She froze, taking in the sight of all of the Avengers lounging around in the cushioned swivel chairs, waiting for her arrival.

Bruce Banner was at the far end on the left of the table wearing his glasses and clicking a pen as he stared at the opposite wall blankly. Next to him was Tony Stark who had a kid of miniature tools as he tinkered with something futuristic laid out on the table—he always did that at Fury's meetings. On the other side of the table, across from Banner, was Natasha Romanov who was discussing something in low whispers with Clint Barton who sat beside her. Steve Rogers was next to Clint and was sitting erect in his chair, looking every part the super soldier who was raised in the forties, his only betrayal of emotion was his fingers drumming on the surface of the table.

At the end of the table, pacing in front of the large window, was Thor. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt today and she had to do a double take to make sure it was him.

Fury went over to the side of the room and stood with his back to the wall, surveying the room with a scowl.

Rogers stood up when he saw her out of respect. He cleared his throat, the sound mostly directed at Stark, and he looked up from his mechanism and his eyes flickered over to Voisin.

Stark stood up and went over to her with a pleasant look on his face, nicely contrasting against Fury's deep frown. He held out his hand to shake hers, but then noticed they were handcuffed behind her back. He clapped her on the back instead. "Carolyn, how nice to see you again when you're... you know, not seconds away from dying. Totally thought you were lost, to be honest." He stepped back and his kind look disappeared, replaced with close scrutiny. "J.A.R.V.I.S. said you were in the Tower, though."

She nodded uncertainly. "Yes, the helicopter flew us there."

Stark wasn't listening, though. Banner had taken Tony's tools and his device off the table and was now messing with it himself. Stark let go of Voisin and rushed over to the table. "Hey, what're you doing over there, anger management?" Bruce let go of the things and looked at Stark innocently.

"You forgot about the voltage level of the Tesseract," he said. "That thing would have fried if—"

"Thanks, _dear_," Tony snapped, snatching the thing out of Bruce's hands. "But you're jumping the gun. That's not for the Tesseract."

He looked confused. "Yes it was; I saw your drawings for it." Tony rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"God, you're just like Pepper when she makes me clean the basement and I leave to take a piss right when she comes to check up on me."

Banner smirked. "You just hate being wrong."

"I wasn't wrong, I just hadn't _gotten_ to that part—"

"_Guys!_" Fury hissed. The two of them stopped, Bruce looking guilty and Tony's face was indignant in a way that said he didn't think he'd done anything wrong.

Thor had crossed the room while Voisin's attention was on the scientists. He touched her arm gently and she jumped at the contact. She looked up at him and saw he looked deprived of sleep and didn't seem like a child anymore, struck by the wonder of Earth. He looked like his past had finally caught up with him but was running away like a train headed straight off a cliff.

"Agent Carolyn," he said. Though his voice was soft, it was still the loudest in the room and silenced everyone else's. "It matters not to me whether you are for us or for Loki, I only care that you help me find a way back to my brother."

"Yeah, well Thor doesn't speak for all of us." That was Fury again. He straightened up and folded his arms across his chest. "Personally, I don't even think you should be here."

"I thought Loki's punishment had already been decided," Romanov said, sitting back in her chair and placing her hands on the desk. "Why is this even up for debate?"

"Because I want to hear what she has to say," Rogers said, polite but firm.

Banner raised his hand, pointing at Steve. "Put me on that list."

"I'm iffy," Tony Stark said, not looking up from his tinkering.

Thor spoke up from beside her. "And I, of course, wish to hear your ideas."

Ideas? She didn't have any ideas. She was expecting them to toss ideas her way and just tell them what she thought.

"Sit down," Thor said, leading her over to a seat next to Bruce. He sat down on her other side. Thor watched her struggle to sit down comfortably with her hands behind her back. "Nick Fury, will you assist her?"

Fury grit his teeth, but pulled a key out of his pocket and tossed it to the god. Thor caught it easily and unlocked Voisin's cuffs. He took them from her wrists and laid them out on the table. She brought her hands around and set them in her lap. "Thank you." He nodded.

"We all heard your powerful words about my brother, agent," Thor said. "I was in the control room, listening to you. The whole thing had been recorded, so I had one of the technical men put it on a device so everyone here could also listen to your speech. I was very moved. And you managed to render my brother speechless, which makes me believe all you said is true."

She nodded, adapting her old professionalism. "Yes, I firmly believe what I said is why Loki is so... angry." And so did Loki, she added silently.

"You understand him," Thor said sadly. "More than I ever have."

"Well, that's not necessarily true—"

"But it is. And since you understand him so well, you should be able to help come up with a suitable sentence for him. Preferably one that will help him understand that we love him, and always have."

"Oh." If that was all he wanted, then the answer was simple. "Take him back to Asgard; let your family come up with something. This is a family matter, isn't it? Who better to come up with a punishment than the parents? You'll need to explain to them why Loki lashed out so they realize what it is they'll need to do. But I'm sure they will be able to think of something."

Thor was smiling. "Why, that's brilliant!" He looked around the table, but not everyone was as pleased. "What say you all?"

There was a heavy silence, and then Rogers said, "I think it's a very good idea. Except, how will you make sure Loki isn't shown too much lenience since they _are_ his parents?"

Thor shook his head. "There will be no doubt that they will be firm. I shall have to stop Father from dooming Loki to lifetimes of imprisonment."

"Then I agree," Steve said. "It's the simplest way to get Loki away from Earth and it's what best for him and his family."

Banner and Stark didn't look as convinced. Barton and Romanov were unyielding.

"I'm not exactly buying it," Tony said. "He's a psychopath."

"He's my brother."

"That doesn't take away the fact that he killed all those people," Romanov said.

"Um," Voisin spoke up. Everyone looked at her. "I have a theory about that." They waited for her to continue. "I think Loki was being influenced by the Tesseract as well."

Sounds of disbelief rang throughout the room and Fury wheeled on her, saying what they were all thinking:

"_What?_"

"Who, besides Dr. Selvig, had the most contact with the Tesseract? Loki," she said, answering her own question. "That glowing blue bit in his scepter looks just like the larger Tesseract cube that Selvig had on Stark Tower. And when Loki took over the people with his staff, their eyes glowed blue. Loki's eyes were never as bright or glowing, but they were blue, and now, without his scepter, his eyes are green. I doubt if even he knows it, but they are." She turned to Thor. "Aren't they green?"

He nodded, his own eyes alight. "Dark green—like grass cast in shadow."

"Okay, slow down, big fella," Stark intervened. "Before you start writing poetry about your brother's eyes, we should at least see if his—" he broke off, looking troubled. "See, I don't know what to call it without it sounding like a euphemism."

"It is called Gungnir," Thor said.

Stark's eyes widened. "He _named_ it? Man, and I thought—"

"Calm your pretentious ass, Stark," Natasha warned. "I've got enough dirt on you that would have Annie and her friends scrubbing the Chrysler Building to present day."

"Hey," he snapped, getting defensive, "I thought we agreed that whatever Pepper told you while you were spying on me was kaput."

"That gentlemen's agreement was null and void the moment I learned that you called peeing 'backwards drinking' in your twenties because it made the ladies laugh. And besides," she added smugly, "I was crossing my fingers."

Tony looked legitimately offended. "Well that's just mean."

After another uncomfortable quiet settled around them, Steve snapped his fingers, looking as if he'd just had some kind of revelation. "_Little Orphan Annie_, the comics? You read them?" he asked Natasha.

She sighed, crossing her arms and shifting in her chair. Without looking at him, she said, "Not even a pop culture reference, Steve." She rolled her eyes.

"They made a musical based off the comics in the seventies," Bruce offered sympathetically. Steve sank down in his chair slightly.

"I will need a moment with my brother," Thor said, standing up from his chair. No one moved to stop him.

As he was walking out the door, Fury called to him, "If you're taking him to his interrogation room, turn off the light when you're done; Washington's getting on our ass about our electricity bill."

* * *

With Thor gone, her major ally in her case for Loki, she had to explain herself several more times. But the worst thing wasn't being the only person in the room that really got how Loki's mind worked, it wasn't being a disgraced member of S.H.I.E.L.D.—it was the way Barton didn't say a word the entire time and just watched her carefully with his arms crossed.

They finally came to a stalemate with Rogers on her side and Banner and Tony still uncertain. Fury, Romanov, and Clint were 'no's. Thor was still gone.

"Well," Fury said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them once no one else could think of anything more to say, "we need to discuss this further. _Unfortunately_," he grit through his teeth, "it's in the agreement of the contract that all group decisions be come to _unanimously_." He gave Romanov a glare and his one eye shot enough daggers at her to make up for the fact that he didn't have two.

She threw her hands in the air. "I'm _sorry_! How many times do you want me to say it?" she said as if they'd had this fight before. "If I had known Stark was going to be in the Avengers, I wouldn't have put that in the contract! And I didn't want to give anyone veto power—checks and balances, come _on_—so I said in the paperwork that the contract would never be subject to change. So shoot me for trying to think ahead."

"Gladly," Fury said. "But I think you'll beat me to it when Stark holds us all captive in here for three days again, playing Devil's advocate just because he 'has time to waste.'"

Tony laughed fondly at the memory. "Ah, come on, didn't we have a great time?" He turned to Banner who had resumed his tinkering with Stark's device. "Didn't _you_ have fun?"

He didn't look up from his work. "I'd never had room service that I didn't have to pay for, so yes, I'd say I had a pretty good time."

Tony smirked at Fury. "See? And that's glowing praise from him; he only has 'a pretty good time' when he's destroying Harlem. The guy's got high standards." Voisin looked at Bruce to watch his reaction, but he just rolled his eyes and shook his head with a trace of a smile.

Fury sighed and let his head rest in his hands for a moment before saying to Voisin, "Come on. I'll take you back to your cell."

Thankfully, he didn't bother with the handcuffs this time. He just took hold of her upper arm and led her back to her room.

Loki was still gone when she got back. She expected him to return soon after Fury left, but he didn't. She waited a long time for him and finally laid down under the cover of her bench so that the lights wouldn't be as harsh while she tried to sleep.

* * *

She was awoken by a warm breeze on her face. She opened an eye and found she was lying in tall green grass, waving around her in the slight wind. The sun was warm on her back. Loki was sitting beside her, plucking up pieces of grass and shredding them in his hands.

"Loki," she breathed when she drank in the sight of him. He looked beautiful. The way the light illuminated his entire face, letting no shadow cast its darkness across his features, made her breath hitch. His eyes caught the glint of the light as he looked at her and she saw they were definitely green—greener than the grass they were sitting in now.

"Thor spoke to me," he said, returning his focus to the grass he was tearing up and letting blow away with the air that blew by them.

She kept her face blank. "Oh?"

He nodded. "Yes. He was very emotional. He said he heard what you told to me last night in our cells." His face betrayed no emotion and his words were measured with just the faintest sense of restraint behind them. "I can sense him trying to guide me toward surrendering to S.H.I.E.L.D.; I have not even been told the consequences of surrendering."

Voisin bit the inside of her lip. Did she dare to tell him?

She shouldn't. It wasn't certain that he would go back to Asgard. In fact, the odds were against them. Voisin kept quiet.

He dropped his hands into his lap and hung his head. "It's foolish of me, I know, but I just want to go back to the way it _was_. If I had known what would happen when I fell off the Bifrost, I would not have done it." His head picked up and he looked around, listening for something beyond Voisin's sense of hearing. "There's someone coming. Close your eyes," he told her.

She did and Loki touched the side of her head with two long fingers. When she opened her eyes again, she was lying under the bench in her cell.

Fury was opening the door of her room. She sat up and bumped her head on the bench, forgetting it was there. She winced and scooted out from underneath it. Loki was back in his room and was watching them carefully. He looked worn in a way that she hadn't noticed in the dream world.

"What is it?" she asked Fury, tearing her gaze from Loki. She couldn't read Fury and she eyed him warily. He wordlessly pulled her out of her cell and she stumbled after him.

Once they were out of the room full of cells, Fury relaxed his grip on her slightly. "Thor wants to talk to you again. We're going to need to come to a decision soon."

* * *

The huge conference table had maybe a hundred pizza boxes stacked on top of it when Voisin walked back into the room.

"What the hell?" she said when she saw them all.

Steve's eyes met hers and he looked like he was beyond the point of anger. "Stark couldn't decide what pizza he wanted and we couldn't all come to an agreement—"

"A _unanimous_ agreement," Stark said with glee.

"—So he ordered every single combination of pizza toppings he could think of off the top of his head." Steve looked down at his plate with a conventional pepperoni slice on it. Quietly; almost to himself, he mumbled, "There are even different kinds of crusts you can get now."

"Hey, I said what I wanted and you all yelled '_fine!_' at me, so I figured you were either agreeing or you had finally verbalized what a sweet piece of ass I am."

Voisin did her best to suppress a smile, but failed miserably.

"Here—" Tony tossed her a paper plate like a frisbee and she caught it out of the air "—have as much as you want."

Voisin looked at the Director with a questioning glance and he nodded reluctantly. She took a slice of from an open box of mushroom pizza and sat down at a relatively clear spot at the table. So far, she'd had three meals brought to her by S.H.I.E.L.D., all of which were microwaveable dinners. (Loki had picked at his without interest).

Thor sat next to her with five slices of different kinds of pizza piled on his plate. "I do not know if we can do it, agent," he said quietly. Voisin looked at him and saw his blue eyes looking sad. "I don't know if we can convince them"

Voisin patted him on one of his thick shoulders. "We'll do our best," she said, matching his whispered tone. "I think if we fight hard enough, we can do it."

He nodded. "Thank you so much for helping us. For helping _me_. You will never be able to know the true limits of my gratefulness to you."

"Steve, put that down!" Tony barked when Rogers went to pick up the metal contraption Tony and Banner had been working on.

"Then don't leave your things lying around," Steve said back.

Tony ran his hands through his hair and then made a strangling motion in Steve's general direction. "I swear to God, even when Pepper's not here, _it's like she's still here_."

When it came time to clear up the mess, Stark called for assistance in conference room one and five men in suits swept into the office and had the place clean in less than ten minutes. There were maybe seventy boxes left over and Tony ordered those to be sent to the workers on the—'Pick a random number between zero and one hundred fifty.' 'Um, ninety?'—ninetieth floor.

Everyone was back to being serious when Voisin noticed that neither Natasha nor Clint were in the room. But just as she wondered where they had gone off to, the doors flew open and Clint stormed in, heading straight for her. Natasha was right behind him, trying to stop him, but he brushed off her attempts like she was a mere fly. Voisin stood up from her chair and faced him, her feet carefully placed a shoulder width apart.

"Agent Barton," Fury shouted, "control yourself! Romanov, I told you not to let him out of your sight."

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are," Barton said, pointing a shaking finger at her. His face was only inches from hers and she saw sweat beading on his forehead. His jaw was clenched tightly and he spoke through his teeth.

"Clint," Romanov said, desperately trying to pull him away from her, "please don't."

"No," Voisin said, "let him talk."

"I don't want to do this here," he grit out.

"Then where?"

There was a moment of pause as he contemplated this question, but the answer came easily. "The training room."

Voisin met his rage-filled eyes. "All right."

Clint's hand wrapped around her arm and practically dragged her out of the room. Voisin caught Romanov's eye and the redhead looked worried. She made a motion to follow them, but Voisin shook her head. She stopped immediately, but rocked on the balls of her feet uncertainly. Voisin turned back to look at Clint, to see the color in his cheeks from his anger.

She deserved this.

* * *

**Apologies for any mistakes you found; I rushed to get this chapter up since I'll be leaving soon for a few days. Leave a review of what you think—of the Avengers, of Voisin, of Loki... anything, please!**


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